


Nowhere Else to Go

by Starboard_Bow



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Academy Era, Adheres to canon as closely as possible, Badass Chekov, Badass Gaila, Bisexual Male Character, Curious Spock, F/M, Jim and Bones being roommates, Jim's got allergies to everything, Joanna is adorable, M/M, POV Leonard McCoy, Post-Star Trek: Into Darkness, Starfleet Academy, Sulu teaches Bones to fence??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-05 21:22:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 24,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4195401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starboard_Bow/pseuds/Starboard_Bow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leonard McCoy signed up for the academy when he realised he had nowhere else to go. He didn’t know at the time, but it was where he was destined to go all along. As James T. Kirk recovers after the events of Star Trek Into Darkness, McCoy relates his memories of the academy to distract his friend through the healing process.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another cross-post from Fanfiction.net to AO3! This story is near and dear to my heart, so please enjoy!

Leonard McCoy grudgingly made his way through the door as he argued with the shuttle officer.

"I suffer from Aviophobia which means 'fear of dying in something that flies'!"

The woman cut him off with a fierce look, just challenging him to question her. "Sir, for your own safety, sit down or else I'll make you sit down!"

Leonard clenched his fist and seethed out a response as he made his was to an empty chair next to some bright-eyed kid. His stomach turned at the thought of actually flying in this rust-bucket. He swallowed audibly and sat himself down in the seat. His stomach lurched violently as he placed the restraints over himself.

"I might throw up on you." He warned the kid sitting by him.

"You know, I think these things are pretty safe." The kid reassured cautiously, not wanting to further antagonise the older man.

Apparently, it didn't work. "Don't pander to me, kid: one tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds. Solar flare might crop up, cook us in our seats. And wait'll you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles, see if you're still so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding. Space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence." Leonard ranted as he pulled out his flask to take a drink.

"I hate to break it to you but Starfleet operates in space." The younger man said sarcastically.

"Yeah, well I got nowhere else to go. My ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I got left is my bones." Leonard admitted as he took a swig of his drink. He looked over to the kid and offered him the flask which was accepted.

"Jim Kirk." He said before taking a gulp of the drink.

_By the looks of him, he's James T. Kirk, son of George Kirk._

"McCoy, Leonard McCoy." Leonard replied as he took back the flask.

The shuttle took off and ascended into the skies of Iowa. The shuttle created a slight rumble which vibrated through the cadet's seats. Leonard's stomach growled loudly. The alcohol did not seem to mix nicely with his pre-existing sense of queasiness. As they made their way up higher and higher, Leonard's head began to spin. He clutched onto the rail next to him and groaned slightly.

"So," Kirk said as he examined the people around them. "What track are you-"

Kirk turned to face Leonard just as he keeled over and emptied the contents of his stomach onto Kirk's shoes. People around them looked away, repulsed. One particular cadet looked very pale, as if he was going to follow suit.

"What the hell man?" Kirk exclaimed. "I didn't think you were serious!"

Leonard wiped the corner of his mouth ruefully. One of the Officers carefully set about cleaning the mess and handed him a drink of water. He took small sips of the water.

"I'm a doctor, Kirk. I know when people are gonna throw up, including myself."

"God, these are my only shoes." Kirk muttered to himself.

Leonard gave him an apologetic look. "I'll buy you some new ones when we land." He offered before finishing off the water.

He rubbed his stomach in a soothing motion not only to settle the remaining sick feeling, but the feeling of embarrassment for throwing up on the first man he met in his Starfleet experience. Kirk placed a hand on Leonard's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. Leonard recoiled slightly at the unexpected contact.

"Thanks, but don't think about that now, just focus on feeling better."

Leonard smiled appreciatively. He nodded to Kirk and lay back in his chair. He closed his eyes and tried to think of pleasant things.

_The shuttle ride will be over soon._

_I may have made a friend._

_But I just threw up on him..._

Leonard's eyes flicked open at that thought and he sighed quietly.

_What have I signed up for?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two is here! Please let me know what you think :) xx

Jim and Leonard parted ways when they exited the shuttle. They were going into different tracks and they had separate meetings to attend.

Leonard joined the swarm of people heading to the Medical track meeting. He took in the sites of the surrounding area. The Golden Gate Bridge was clearly visible; its beauty made greater by the sparkling water surrounding it.

There were some cadets resting by the large trees in the front garden studying peacefully. Leonard sighed a breath of relief at the fact that not all the activity was hustle bustle. They entered the large doors of the building. He kept following the crowd idly until he accidentally bumped into a short, blonde-haired woman. The crowd had stopped in a large hall with a few admirals standing on a podium expectantly.

“My apologies, Miss.” He said quietly.

“Not a problem, Mr...?” she asked.

“McCoy. Just call me Leonard.” He answered with a shy smile. “And you are?”

“Christine Chapel.” She said smiling slightly. Leonard nodded at her in acknowledgment.

“Cadets!” A booming voice said over the microphones. “Are you quite finished?”

Christine and Leonard instantly stood to attention. They looked straight ahead, not daring to meet the admiral’s eyes. The eyes of all the other cadets were on them making Leonard turn slightly red.

“Our sincere apologies, sir!” Leonard answered for them. His heart hammered in his chest at getting into trouble within the very first hour of his new career. This was certainly not going well.

“Cadets,” the admiral began, addressing the crowd. “Welcome to Starfleet Academy. As medical track students, you have one of the most important jobs in the fleet- maintaining the health and saving the lives of Federation citizens both on Starships and other planets.”

He stepped away from the microphone to allow another admiral to speak.

“Some of you will be nurses, some will be doctors, and maybe some of you will one day have the honour of becoming the Chief Medical Officer of your station. But today is day one. It’s the beginning of a grand adventure, not an easy one, but a path that is highly worthwhile. Now, to business. We are going to hand out timetables, room assignments and uniforms.”

The cadets were separated into alphabetically chosen groups. Before Christine and Leonard were separated, he made a suggestion to her.

“Would you like to meet up later?”

Christine blushed slightly and nodded her head in agreement.

“I’ll comm. you.” She answered. She then turned away and went to join her group.

* * *

“McCoy, L.H, room A118. Here is your room code, a standard issue comm., your uniform and medical scrubs. Welcome to Starfleet.”

Leonard nodded to the officer and made his way out of the crowded hall. He looked over his timetable. His classes did not start for three days. His class list was pretty standard. They did not contain a great deal of medical classes since he was already a qualified doctor but there was one course that caused him to groan.

The course was notoriously hard and satisfactory completion was mandatory to graduate the medical track. He was grateful that the course mainly focused on humanoids, although he knew that he shouldn’t be so presumptuous to think that the internal workings of all humanoids were the same. As he passed a very stiff looking Vulcan, he remembered hearing that their blood was actually green and their heart was not located in their chest.

He ran his hand through his hair and tried to forget about the course until he actually needed to start thinking about it.

He made his way through the main buildings and out into a large courtyard which signified the beginning of the dorm rooms. Each building was labelled according to letter. He looked around and found building A very quickly.  It was a bland looking structure. It was a simple white with windows at a regular interval. Leonard felt slightly jealous as he looked at buildings D and E which were far more modern looking with some actual colour.

_This is home..._

* * *

Leonard entered the code to room 118 on the fourth floor and stepped in. It was a very simple apartment with the bare necessities of life. There was a small kitchenette with a replicator right next to it. In front of the kitchenette was the living room with two small couches, a table and a bookshelf.

He turned the corner to find the bedroom. To Leonard’s surprise, there were two beds in it.

_God help me if I have to share a room with some wise-ass kid._

Leonard chose the bed on the left and placed his belongings down on the bed. He sat down to test the bed’s comfort and was pleasantly surprised. He lay back and closed his eyes, wishing the world away.

No more than 10 seconds later, Leonard heard the front doors swishing open. He got up to greet his new roommate. He turned the corner and was met with a very familiar face.

“Kirk!” Leonard exclaimed. Jim looked up surprised. A grin spread over his face.

“So,” Jim said smiling broadly. “You got assigned to the hell-hole building too!”

Leonard chuckled and moved to help Jim with his things.

“I’ve already stolen the left side of the room so I guess you’re stuck with the right. God man, this apartment is so small.”

Jim snorted with laughter.

“These are the biggest cadet accommodations you can get! The modern ones, that look goddamn awesome, actually have bathrooms shared between two dorms and some even have four to a room! I’d say we hit the jackpot with this little suite, even if it looks awful...”

Jim cringed at the plain wooden drawers next to his bed. Leonard went over to his side of the room and began to place his items around the room. The cadets weren’t allowed to bring much- most things were provided.

On his bed, his comm. began to chirp.

“McCoy.” He said into it.

“Oh, hi Leonard! Just wanted to know if you’d like to join me for lunch?” the voice of Christine rang out.

Jim shot Leonard a look and raised his eyebrows.

“Picking up the ladies already are we?”

Leonard slapped his hand over the comm and gave Jim a fierce look.

“Goddammit, shush!”

Jim raised his hands in mock surrender. He went back to work organising the room.

“Uh yeah,” McCoy said into the communicator “I’d love to Christine. We could meet at the cafeteria?”

“Oh, real romantic.” Jim interrupted once again.

Leonard took a pillow and threw it at Jim’s head. It missed and Jim broke into silent laughter. He was enjoying antagonising this man far too much. Christine could be heard laughing over the comm.

“I’ll be there in a half hour. Chapel out.”

Leonard stormed over to Jim’s side of the room, picked up the pillow and hit Jim square in the head with it. Jim’s laughter only increased. Leonard took the pillow and placed it back on his bed, huffing.

“I am definitely not buying you new shoes, Kirk.” He said as he put his jacket back on, preparing to head out.

“Whatever, Bones.”

He looked over to Jim quizzically. He chose to ignore the jibe and left the apartment hearing his roommate call behind him.

“And for the love of god, call me Jim! Not Kirk!”


	3. Chapter 3

It was three months into Bones’ (as Jim would not cease calling him) time at the academy. He had formed a fairly good friendship with Jim and also Christine. But today, he had made a move on Christine, only to be officially friend-zoned.

He walked into the apartment with a dejected look on his face. He plopped down onto the couch and lay facing the ceiling. Jim was replicating some food when he noticed the distraught state of his roommate.

“Ah,” Jim said, realising why Bones would be upset before he had to ask. “Don’t worry. I’ve been prepared for this day.”

Before Bones could ask, Jim hurriedly made his way out of the apartment. Bones’ eyebrows were knit together in confusion as he watched Jim run out. He got up off the couch and replicated some chocolate cake, taking it to the table. He took a few bites and savoured the intense richness of the chocolate.

_Look at me eating chocolate like some depressed girl!_

Jim stormed back into the room holding a carton of beer. As he laid his eyes on the state Bones was in, his jaw dropped open.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Bones? Why are you eating chocolate? We are men! We drink beer to drown our sorrows!” Jim exclaimed shaking his head in disapproval.

McCoy lowered his head like a sad puppy. He picked up the chocolate cake and put it through the replicator’s recycler. He then walked over to Jim like a naughty child to its parents and pulled a beer out of the carton.

“Good man.” Jim said patting his shoulder.

* * *

“’ You’re such a good friend, Leonard.’ That’s what she said right? And then she said ‘I don’t want to ruin our friendship by going out with you!’ Ugh! Why are women so difficult?”

Jim nodded in agreement. He was on the living room floor, staring at the ceiling as he listened to Bones who was sprawled over their couch, his feet dangling off the armrest. They both held their beer bottles close to them. They were well into their 3rd and 4th bottles.

Jim burped loudly, finding himself the most hysterical thing in the world. After a moment, McCoy started laughing too. Bones’ laughter only increased Jim’s. Bones pulled out a belch of his own, and before the two men knew it, they were having a burping competition and laughing about it like schoolboys.

A chime was heard at the door. McCoy groaned in annoyance as he moved to get off the couch.

“Ignore it, Bones.” Jim told him. “You can be a douche when you’re drunk.”

Bones scowled at him, but then flopped back onto the couch with a grunt. The door chimed again. Jim and Bones pretended they hadn’t heard and Bones went to the carton to open up another beer.

One minute later, to the horror of Jim and McCoy, somebody used the override code on their door and it swished open. Standing in the doorway was a very formidable, Vulcan professor. Bones and Jim quickly set aside their drinks and tried to stand up.  Bones succeeded whilst Jim fell back on the floor and was knocked out cold. The professor shot him a disapproving look.

“Cadet McCoy.” The Vulcan started. “It has been brought to my attention that you are in violation of Academy rules by consuming alcohol on the school premises.”

Bones hung his head slightly but then felt like he was going to throw up. He raised his head back up and looked the professor in the eyes. Against his better judgment, he fought back.

“Oh jeez, are you that professor who Uhura’s chasing after? It was her who turned us in, wasn’t it? A bit of revenge on Jim, eh? Damn, she really wants you in her pants.”

The professor looked thoroughly taken aback and pierced Bones with a Vulcan glare. McCoy instantly wished he could eat his words. He also felt bad for bagging Uhura out too; she was a friend of Christine’s. Christine had mentioned Uhura’s intense interest into some professor in passing conversation. This Vulcan seemed to fit the description very well.

“Cadet, the person who informed me of your behaviour is of no importance. You are in violation of academy rules and will be brought before the disciplinary board. I shall overlook your words about Cadet Uhura on the grounds that you are clearly intoxicated.” He stated coolly. “I suggest you tend to Cadet Kirk and make yourselves sober as soon as possible. Good evening.”

With that, the professor turned on his heel and walked out of the doorway. The door slid shut. McCoy stood there for a few moments, stunned. He rubbed his face in his hands and sighed.

* * *

As Bones opened his eyes, he turned over to see Jim drooling on the bed next to him. His arm hung over his bed with his fingertips just touching the floor.

The sudden onslaught of a hangover attacked Bones’ head. He winced in pain and moved over to his medical bag, pulling out a hypo. He injected himself with the hangover remedy and his headache quickly began to subside. He then injected Jim as well while he was still asleep. It would be unlikely Jim would agree to a hypo while conscious- he hated the things.

McCoy made his way into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Jim’s things were strewn all around the bathroom. His towels were on the floor, shirts were flung around haphazardly. Bones grumbled as he moved to the sink and found Jim’s razor shoved into the tap. He pulled it out and began running the water.  Jim walked in sheepishly.

“Sorry about the mess in here.”

Bones turned around to face him and gave him a signature scowl. He then dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

“And last night,” Jim added. “Sorry about getting us all the booze.”

Bones chuckled dryly.

“You aren’t sorry for doing it, you’re sorry we got caught.”

Jim cracked a small smile. He slapped Bones on the shoulder and made his way out of the bathroom to allow Bones to clean up. As he moved down the hallway, he called out:

“You know me too well, Bones!”

_Unbelievable._


	4. Chapter 4

Leonard sat in the academy library studying for his Andorian language class. Bones spoke no language except Standard; it was expected that cadets at least have a rudimentary understanding of one foreign language.

He flipped the pages of the enormous dictionary he had managed to find in the library. The PADD took too long to load each word; Leonard preferred the old fashioned way of doing things. He found the verb he was looking for and tried to put it in the correct sentence structure. It was exceedingly difficult.

Bones almost jumped out of his skin when Jim slapped his hands over the dictionary.

“Study time over!” Jim exclaimed. “Bar time!”

Leonard shoved Jim’s hands off the dictionary and continued to read it. He heard Jim huff in annoyance and realised the kid wasn’t going to go without him.

“Look Jim, I’m busy! We can’t all be geniuses like you, you know!” Bones lowered his voice due to the glares of the librarian. “And the last time I had a drink with you, we had to attend a very scary disciplinary hearing! We were so piss drunk; I don’t even remember who caught us, dammit! Nearly the whole night’s gone from my brain- that didn’t win us many points with the board you know!”

Jim crossed his arms over his chest and walked around the table. He crouched down in front of Leonard.

“Bones, that was two months ago. Would you just get over it already? We didn’t get expelled, just a reprimand- it’s all good! Now,” Jim suddenly changed the tone of his voice. “There is a _stunningly_ beautiful woman who is going to be at this bar tonight by the name of Uhura. She’s been shrugging me off for a while. But I intend to sweep her off her feet tonight!”

Bones snorted. He doubted Jim would have much luck.

“Jim,” Bones started. Jim looked up like an expectant puppy dog, eyes gleaming with excitement. “No.”

Jim stood up and lightly smacked Leonard’s head. He then proceeded to exit the library.

“Have fun!” Bones called after him, smirking slightly.

* * *

Bones continued to study in the library for a couple of hours. He finally worked out his sentences in Andorian and then moved onto his Xenobiology study. He flicked open his text book and read aloud very softly to himself.

“Cardassians: External Features. Cardassians possess light grey skin with two large neck ridges joining to the crown of the head. They also possess a ridge on their forehead which is in the shape of an inverted tear-drop...”

Bones stopped reading as he felt his eyelids begin to droop. Cardassian physiology was not the most fascinating thing in the universe and he had been studying for quite a few hours.  Plus, he felt the warning signs of a headache. He decided to call it a night and go back to the apartment. Jim would not be back yet, he could have some relax time.

As he crossed the courtyard on the way to the dorms, he spotted Hikaru Sulu, their neighbour in room 119. He shared his apartment with a mere 14 year old boy, Pavel Chekov, but they seemed to get along fine. Leonard and Hikaru had the occasional chat in the hallways.

Hikaru was sitting on a bench simply looking into the night sky. The boy wasn’t around which was unusual; Pavel tended to cling to Hikaru.

“Good evening, Mr. Sulu!” Bones called nodding his head. Hikaru raised his hand to give a small wave.

“You turning in for the night, Leo?” Hikaru asked standing up to walk closer to Bones.

“Uh, yeah. Had enough of staring at Cardassians.” Leonard replied. Hikaru laughed and then nervously clasped his hands together and started to wring them. He gave Bones a small smirk.

“Okay Hikaru. Out with it.” Bones said seriously, raising his eyebrows to the younger man. He didn’t need much convincing.

“Jim’s got a girl in the apartment. Pavel and I got out before we heard something we could never un-hear.” Hikaru said in between small bouts of laughter. “Pavel was horrified at the concept. He went over to his chess club meeting.”

Bones groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead. Jim could be such an idiot. Where was he going to sleep for the night? He didn’t feel like playing Peeping Tom tonight.

“Well, I can’t stay up with you all night out here Hikaru. I have a shift at the academy hospital tomorrow. I really need my shut eye. I think I’ll wear ear plugs and sleep on the couch or wherever they are not...“ Bones grizzled.  “Maybe bleach my eyes if I see anything.”

Hikaru laughed heartily and nodded his head. He stuck out his hand for a handshake and Leonard accepted firmly.

“Good luck!” Hikaru called as Bones walked towards A block. Bones simply rolled his eyes.

* * *

Before Bones could even enter the code into the door, he heard some noises that really advocated for the idea of ear plugs. As the door slid open, he slapped a hand over his eyes and fumbled away from Jim and whoever he was making out with on the couch. He heard them break apart. A familiar female voice rang out.

“Leonard!?”

Leonard’s hand instantly fell from his face and his jaw dropped. He blinked a couple of times in shock.

“Jocelyn?”

Jim instantly flew of the couch and put his hands up in a kind of surrender. His face was flushed red and his lips were slightly swollen.

“Oh, no, no, no. Bones, is this _the_ Jocelyn?” Jim exclaimed, his thoughts in a whirl of panic. It was Bones’ _ex_ -wife, but Jim didn’t think his friend would be happy about it regardless.

Bones clenched his fists together and took some very deep breaths. This was not the situation he expected to come home to. His ex’s shirt was partly unbuttoned and her hair was sticking up at odd angles. Bones looked to Jim and gave him a menacing glare.

“Jim,” Bones said as evenly as possible. “Get out of the apartment.”

Jim quickly nodded, running a hand through his hair to flatten it down and grabbing a jacket. He almost ran out of the apartment. Jocelyn frowned at Bones.

“I didn’t know this was your accommodation.” She stated simply.

Bones nodded and sat next to her on the couch.

“Jim can be very seductive when he wants to be.” Bones explained. “He told me he was going after a certain woman tonight... Looks like that didn’t work. Congratulations on being picked up by a man 6 years your junior!”

Jocelyn looked slightly taken aback. She placed her head in her hands.

“But he told me-“

“He’ll say anything if it means sex. Don’t worry; I’ll deal with him later.”

Jocelyn sighed. Her soft brown hair masked part of her face. Leonard resisted the urge to brush it back and place a kiss on her cheek like he used to.

“I didn’t come all the way out here to prey on your roommate, Leonard. We need to finalise our custody arrangement for Joanna.” She stated with the familiar bite she often put into her words. “I want sole custody.”

Bones could feel another headache coming on. This was not a good day.


	5. Chapter 5

Jocelyn went back to her hotel for the night which allowed Bones to clear his head slightly. He went to bed and his eyes closed instantly, falling into a fitful sleep. Leonard was vaguely aware of Jim coming and flopping down on his bed in the early hours of the morning.

His alarm went off at 6am. He grudgingly flung his covers off and hopped out of bed. He pulled the blue scrubs out of his drawers and headed to the shower. His shift began at 7am and went until 2pm; he was in the pre-operative ward today.

Bones removed one of Jim’s t-shirts from the showerhead and then began to run the water. He flung the shirt into a pile of Jim’s other clothes. He stepped into the shower and allowed the water to run over his face and body. The warm water lessened the tension he felt in his shoulders.

The tension instantly came back when the bathroom door slid open and Jim waltzed in. The door had been unlocked.

“Jim!” Bones almost yelled. “What the hell are you doing in here!?”

“Hey! Chill out! I’m just trying to find my uniform pants!” Jim called back over the sound of the running shower. He rummaged through the pile and pulled out a crumpled pair of red pants.

“We’re having a serious talk about your boundary issues after my shift today. First my ex wife, and now you walk in while I’m naked! Now, get your ass the hell out of this room!”

“Yes, sir!” Jim replied striding out of the bathroom.

* * *

Bones’ shift at the Academy Hospital was incredibly unexciting. It consisted of mainly trying to calm people’s nerves about their surgery and sticking hypos in people who would not comply with his efforts. He ran a few scans and reported to surgeons about the status of their patients, the same old routine. The only vaguely interesting part was when he got to put his second language to use and convince a very worried Andorian mother that her child was in good hands.

When his shift was over, he pulled out his comm. to make a call.

“Jocelyn, hi. Are you free at the moment?”

* * *

“As soon as the papers were finalised, you went off and joined the Fleet without a word! She thought you abandoned her!” Jocelyn exclaimed.

People in the restaurant turned their heads at Jocelyn’s loud words. Bones shot her a fierce glare.

“Keep your voice down, would ya?” He seethed.

He took a long drink of the coffee he had ordered. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and then clasped his hands together on the table.

“I want to take her on weekends.” He stated after a few moments of thought. “I could take a shuttle over to Georgia and-“

“Take her where Leonard? You don’t have a home, nowhere to live!” She shot back, keeping her voice down.

“-take her out for the day. I can have her back to your home by the evening.”

Jocelyn let out a long sigh. She pulled out her handbag and took out her purse. From one of the compartments, she removed a small photo and handed it to Leonard.

He accepted the photo. On it was Joanna playing on some swings. She was dressed in a frilly blue dress and bright green shoes. Bones smiled. He was endlessly amused by Joanna’s clothing choices. Joanna had a massive grin on her face and her pigtails were flying behind her as she played. Joanna had not been a planned child, but Leonard couldn’t imagine not having the little girl around.

He returned back to reality when Jocelyn started clicking her fingernails on the table.

“Why show me this?”

“Joanna is in a stable and caring environment at the moment. Your lifestyle is erratic, you drink a lot. For heaven’s sake, she’s only 5! You can see her, of course, but I don’t think she needs the confusion in her life at the moment. Let things settle for a while.”

Bones’ jaw clenched. He removed his gaze from Jocelyn and looked down to the table.

“She’s my little girl, Jocelyn.” He almost whispered, lifting his gaze back up. “I love her more than anything.”

Jocelyn nodded; an understanding was in her eyes.

“I know.” She said quietly. “And because you love her, you’ll do what’s best for her. Be sure to write her a letter. I’ll see you around soon, Leonard.”

Jocelyn pat his hand kindly and exited the restaurant. Bones continued to sit at the table, staring off into the middle distance. He played with the handle of his coffee cup. He then took a sip of the bitter liquid only to spit it back out. It had gone cold.

He left some credits on the table and walked out, the weight of the world on his shoulders.

* * *

Bones lay on the couch composing a message to his daughter.

_Dear JoJo,_

_Mommy showed me a very pretty picture of you when we last met. I really like your new dress._  
_I hope you had a nice time with grandma while Mommy and I were talking. Maybe you made some cookies? I bet they were delicious._  
 _I’m sorry I won’t be able to come to your school presentation night. Starfleet makes you work very hard sometimes. But Mommy promised she would send photos. So, in a way, I will see and as always, be very proud._  
 _Sweetheart, just because I don’t see you very much now, it doesn’t mean that I don’t love you. In fact, I love you more than anyone in the whole wide world!_  
 _Be good for your mother. I hope to see you soon._

_Love, Pa._

Something about the message didn’t seem right to Bones. He couldn’t put into words how much he loved his daughter; the fact that he couldn’t see her very often stabbed at his heart.

As Leonard was pondering, Jim bounded into the apartment with a massive grin on his face. It quickly vanished when he saw Bones’ sombre state.

“Didn’t work out, huh?”

“She told me that I was currently unfit to parent her.” Bones said. “The worst part about it is she’s right.”

Jim frowned and sat near his friend on the other couch.

“I don’t know much about you as a parent, but I do know that Leonard McCoy is one of the kindest people I know. He’s smart and in a really convoluted way, funny. He knows how to put up with bullshit from his friends and even helps them out when they’ve done idiotic things.” Jim took a deep breath. “I dunno about you, but it sounds like this man could make a pretty decent father.”

Bones allowed a thankful smile to slip onto his face. He quickly ruffled Jim’s hair and then stood up to look down at Jim.

“Thanks, Jim.” He said. “But this doesn’t let you off the hook for making out with Jocelyn.”

Jim’s eyes widened in shock slightly and could not find any words to say. Bones laughed heartily for the first time in a while and walked into their bedroom, clutching at his sides.

As he changed out of his clothes, he found the little photo in his pocket. He set it by his bedside table in a place of honour. He kissed his fingertips and placed them on the picture.

_I’m always here for you, JoJo._


	6. Chapter 6

The end of Leonard’s first year came closer and closer. He finished all his classes satisfactorily; and to his surprise, ranked 3rd in his xenobiology exam. But there was only one thing on his mind as the holidays drew near- seeing Joanna.

It was only a fantasy though. Jocelyn had taken her to France to visit some of her relatives there. His presence would only be unwelcome; Joanna would be able to feel the stress.

Bones checked his PADD when he heard it make a soft beep. The results to his Computer Systems exam had come in.

_65%. Satisfactory._

Bones cringed slightly. It wasn’t a fabulous mark, but it meant that he had passed all his classes and was now free to take his holiday leave. Where he would take leave was still to be determined.

* * *

When Bones got back to the apartment, Jim was shoving some clothes into his black backpack. He raced into the bathroom and picked up all the dirty clothes, shoving them into the bag. Bones grimaced. There was much room for improvement when it came to Jim’s hygiene.

“Why aren’t you packing, Bones?” Jim asked as he emerged from the bathroom.

Bones set his things on the ground and mulled over his response.

“I’m staying on campus for the break. Maybe get a head start on the second year content and-“

“Bones, you’re coming back to Iowa with me. Shut up and pack some shit.” Jim interrupted.

Bones shook his head.

“I can’t impose on your family. Plus I think some time alone to think about-“

“Bones! The shuttle leaves in 20 minutes. Pack. Your. Stuff.”

Bones shrugged his shoulders in resignation.

“Thanks buddy.”

* * *

The two men stood in front of a much worn down farmhouse, right out in the middle of Iowa.  The paint was peeling very badly and the windows were laced with cobwebs.

“Home sweet home.” Jim mumbled as he made his way up the creaking porch stairs. The door was not locked as Jim expected. With a soft whine, it moved forward. Bones followed Jim into his home. He politely suppressed a cough as the dust of the house made its way into his lungs.

“Uh, Jim.” Bones said. He pointed to a dusty sign that lay flat on the floor of the living room. It read “For Sale”. There was no ‘sold’ sticker over it. The house was almost completely empty save a few items scattered haphazardly around. The house was abandoned.

“They must have tried to sell the place.” Jim muttered. He didn’t seem offended or saddened by it. It was not the home he grew up in. That was Frank’s house; and even then, he hadn’t stayed there long. This was the house his parents were supposed to raise a family in.

“I’m sorry, Bones.” Jim said after a few moments. “I thought the house might still be set up. We’ll have to find a hotel or something.”

Bones clasped his hand around Jim’s arm.

“How long has it been since you contacted your mom?” Bones asked gently.

Jim shrugged.

“Five years I guess. The last time we talked, she was going off planet for a couple years. I was an idiot to assume she’d still have this house.” Jim plastered a smile onto his face. “Not to worry. I have an awesome idea which you are gonna love!”

Bones cringed. Jim’s awesome ideas often weren’t very awesome and often involved a large amount of alcohol consumption and women. He quickly thought of some retorts he could use against the undoubtedly stupid plan.

“We’re gonna do some camping!”

_Oh, great._

* * *

Fortunately, Jim had an old family friend still living in town and was able to borrow all the camping equipment they needed. They made a trip in a taxi to the closest store and stocked up on some food and water bottles.

The entire time, Bones grumbled about how camping was a useless waste of time and how it was more stressful than relaxing.

“Hey!” Jim interrupted his friend’s rant. “You’re the one who’s afraid of flying, being transported and about every other piece of modern technology! And now that I suggest camping, the most primitive thing in the world you could ever do, you complain?”

Bones gaped, struggling to find words to throw back at Jim. He turned away from Jim’s piercing blue eyes.

“Sorry, I just got a lot on my mind. I appreciate your efforts, Jim.”

* * *

After catching another transport out of Riverside, they finally reached the trail in the state park.

Bones and Jim set up camp in a small clearing they found, not bothering with camping in the prescribed areas. The walk had been quiet and contemplative for them both as they took in the beauty of the park they were seeing. A small stream trickled by their campsite- the noise was very soothing.

Rocks and wood were formed into a circle to make a campfire. Bones heaved over a fallen log for them to sit on by the fire. Night was coming fast and so Jim set to work on lighting the fire. Words were not needed between the two; they knew what needed to be done.

When the work was complete, the tent was set up and a roaring fire lit up their surroundings.

Bones and Jim lay about a metre apart and stared into the night sky as they shovelled some biscuits into their mouths. The stars shone extremely brightly- there was very little cloud cover that night. The fire crackling was the only noise that could be heard. Jim closed his eyes slowly as if deep in thought.

“She only ever became distant after...” Jim started. “Never mind.”

Bones rolled onto his side to face Jim. He observed how Jim had clenched his fist together, as if reprimanding himself for speaking his thoughts.

“Come on, Jim.” Bones said gently. “I know you’ve had something on your mind all day. You can trust me with it. I’m a doctor- trust is in my job description.”

Jim smiled slightly. He opened up his eyes and looked back into Bones’ eyes.

“My mother and I haven’t spoken for a really long time. We never had a strong relationship; I lived with my stepfather Frank most of the time. She was a Starfleet officer so she was off-planet a lot.” Jim took a long breath and exhaled slowly. He rubbed his eyes distractedly before continuing. “I was a rebellious kid. I was constantly in the shadow of my great, heroic father and so I just acted out. There was a time when I drove the car Frank thought was his into a quarry. The car was absolutely trashed and I only just escaped the car in time. Needless to say, Frank got his vengeance on me.”

Bones’ eyes knit together in a frown. His eyes dropped from Jim’s and he shuffled nervously.

“Beatings?”  
  
Jim winced slightly and nodded stiffly.

“At that point, I wanted out. One day, my mum contacted me from the starship she was on and told me about this new colony that had a good troubled youth program. She assured me that she could get me a place in the program and organise transport for me. She knew I was having problems in Iowa.”

Bones did not quite know where Jim was going with his story. But he wasn’t about to interrupt him. Jim rarely opened up like this, and when he did, they were always startling revelations.

“Does the name Tarsus IV mean anything to you Bones?”

Bones reeled in shock. He had heard unofficial whisperings about the events that had occurred on that planet. He didn’t know any real details, but he knew with great certainty that something so horrific had happened there that it sparked a massive cover-up in the Federation.

“Not a lot Jim. But please, you can tell me.”

“It was beautiful Bones. The colony- you could not imagine a more pristine place. There were sweeping fields of plants and grass; there were endless places to roam. The program’s centre was on a couple hundred acres of land. We had horses to ride, crops to harvest, stables to clean; things to do. We were kept busy and we thrived in it. But then the virus came.” Jim took a few moments to collect himself. “It destroyed everything. We had no food.”

“That’s awful Jim.”

“That isn’t the worst part. I can’t say too much about it, but our leader took matters into his own hands. He had some weird-shit theories on genetic superiority and that sort of crap. He thought that if only half the population was eating, the colony would survive until Federation aid came. But he didn’t just let everyone fend for themselves. He made a list; he personally selected those who could continue living and eating the food based on their genes. The rest of the population was to be executed.”

On the last word, Jim’s voice quavered slightly. He swallowed audibly and continued.

“Everyone in the program, including myself, was not on the list. We were to be executed. One night, they came for us. No warning or anything. They just stormed the property and shot everyone they could see. Some of us tried to hide. My friend was shot in the back of the head as we tried to climb out the window. We both fell out and he landed right on top of me; his eyes were glazed over, frozen in a look of fear. I scrambled away from him and ran, I just kept running until I couldn’t breathe. The smell of burning bodies was pungent in the air. After that, I just kept moving around places, trying to find food or help. I don’t know how long I did that.

My mother was on one of the vessels that brought help. When she saw that I had survived, she simply ushered me onto the shuttle and back to her ship. A transport to Earth was arranged and I was sent right back to Frank who couldn’t give a rat’s ass about what happened. My mum did nothing to help me. She couldn’t imagine what I felt when I saw the lives of my friends violently end and saw my community burnt to the fucking ground.”

A light breeze swept over the campsite, the fire crackled more fervently. Jim glanced over at Bones. Bones was very deep in thought; he didn’t quite know how to respond to this information. He decided upon a simple answer.

“I’m sorry,”

The answer seemed to appease Jim.

“Who the hell knows where she might be now. I was stupid to assume that she’d still have the house. But hey, I got you, a campfire, and the night sky.  Is there a better way to spend leave?”

Bones allowed himself to smile. He was amazed at Jim’s ability to bounce back from a situation like that. Bones was certain that if the same events had happened to him, he would have drunk himself into oblivion. But not Jim, he was a fighter.

Jim noticed Bones’ reflectiveness and shoved at his arm.

“Hey! Come on Bones!” Jim exclaimed shifting mood very suddenly. Bones raised an eyebrow in question. “It’s booze time!”

Bones sighed. Jim had an unhealthy obsession with alcohol, but really, Bones wasn’t one to talk.

“Can’t argue with that, Jim.”

They settled down with their favourite poison for the night. Bones felt a pang of emptiness at not spending this time with Joanna. As he looked to Jim, he saw the strongest man he had ever known. He had faced unquestionable hardship and a troubled upbringing. Bones would not allow Joanna to ever be subjected to that. He knew with great certainty that he would achieve his best at Starfleet and become a parent that Joanna could be proud of.

But right now, it was Bones, Jim, the stars and the warmth of alcohol sliding down one’s throat.


	7. Chapter 7

Professor Clayton had a reputation for being one of the harshest professors in the Academy. His incredibly formal manner and strict marking criteria struck fear into even the most seasoned cadet. For the last month, Bones had not found much evidence for the claim. As he observed Professor Clayton walk into the lecture hall for the Ethics class, he seemed like a gentle and wise old man.

Leonard had been enjoying his second year Ethics class for the last month. It was an interesting course and Bones was actually quite good at it. The classes weren’t organised by tracks so there was a mish-mash of people from the academy. Leonard made it a habit to sit with young Pavel Chekov whilst in the class. Jim, Hikaru, Christine and Uhura were all in the other class.

Pavel seemed to like having Bones around and they had easy conversations.

“Oh no,” Pavel said leaning over to Bones. “Here he iz.”

Professor Clayton began the class.

“Good morning class,” he said clearly, pushing his glasses onto his face. “Today, we will be focusing on the ethical questions associated with the Prime Directive. The Prime Directive is our guiding philosophy as Starfleet officers. History has proven to us how necessary the Prime Directive is. However, compliance with the directive can often be seen as unethical. Can anybody tell me of an instance where the Prime Directive was upheld even though there were dubious ethical problems?”

The class murmured amongst themselves but nobody offered an answer to the professor.

“Very well, I’ll pick somebody. You,” he motioned. “Yes, you, the young one in the third row.”

Pavel’s face drained of colour. He looked down, avoiding all eye contact with the professor. Bones nudged his elbow to get him to say something.

“I am wery sorry professor,” Pavel replied, still not making eye contact. “I do not know.”

“You’re ‘wery’ sorry are you?” Professor Clayton said smugly.

 “Da.”

Pavel flushed bright red as he accidently reverted into speaking Russian. Bones observed a line of sweat that marked Pavel’s face.

“Cadet Chekov,” Professor Clayton said impatiently. “You are to use Standard whilst in this class, is that understood?”

“Y-yes, sir.” Pavel stammered.

“It baffles me why your parents even taught you Russian! The language is almost obsolete and spoken by so-“

The professor was cut off when Leonard stood up from his seat and stared down at the professor. Pavel grabbed Bones’ wrist and looked up at him with pleading eyes. He shook his head vigorously, but Bones would not be deterred. He shook Pavel’s hand from his wrist.   

“You listen to me, Professor! This kid isn’t even 15 years old! 15! He’s in a place filled with adults and is probably as nervous as hell! Are you seriously going to pick on him for the way he says things? For the way he was raised in his culture? You wouldn’t pick on a Betazoid for having an accent would you? So why pick on this young human? ”

Clayton narrowed his eyes at Bones. He then looked to Pavel, whose mouth hung open in shock.

“Cadet McCoy, you are dismissed from this session.”

There were was a rumbling chatter in the room at that announcement. Bones pulled his shoulders back, giving the appearance of confidence and went to walk out of the room. He looked back to Pavel and gave him a slight nod; Pavel looked like he wanted to cry.

* * *

“I told you that guy was a dick, Bones. I had him for one of my Command classes last year. We gotta get back at him for it!”

Jim was gesticulating wildly as he pulled back his bed covers and slid in. It was 11pm, and both of the men were truly exhausted from their days.

“How?” Bones asked. Jim opened his mouth with a smirk on his face but Bones cut him off. “Without getting another reprimand or being expelled Jim.”

Jim’s smirk vanished.

“You’re no fun sometimes.” He said as he lay down on his pillow.

Bones shifted in his own bed and tried to get comfortable. The events of the day had particularly unsettled him- he wasn’t used to being the ‘bad boy’ in the class.

“Computer, lights off.” Bones ordered.

“Fuck!” Jim suddenly said. “I have the best idea!”

_Here we go._

* * *

The preparations had been made. Jim, Bones, Pavel and Hikaru sat smugly in their seats. They were in the presentation hall for a special seminar by Professor Clayton. There were a few admirals in the room and some foreign ambassadors who had come in for the seminar. The topic was supposedly _Moral Relativism and Foreign Diplomacy_ but the gang weren’t particularly interested in the topic.

They saw the professor walk into the hall, adjusting his dress uniform as he did so.

It turned out Pavel was pretty good at playing with Universal translators. As Bones found out, there were many settings that it could be used on.  The translators could be set to translate into many different languages. The academy ones that were placed in the microphones were almost always set to translate into Standard but they could be changed. For this seminar, it was not on at all since the professor was a native Standard speaker, but the men had decided to change that.  

Professor Clayton stood on the podium and took hold of the microphone.

“Good morning Admirals, Dignitaries and Cadets.”

“Now.” Pavel whispered to Hikaru. Hikaru tapped a button on his PADD subtly. Jim and Bones were grinning like idiots, drawing a lot of attention to them. Neither of them could bring themselves to care.

“Сегодня я буду говорить с вами о морального релятивизма и-“

Jim stifled his laughter by putting his hand over his mouth in a very non-subtle way.

Clayton knit his eyebrows together. There were murmurings around the room and some very confused looks from the admirals. Clayton fiddled with his PADD for a moment before continuing.  
  
“извините меня, я потерял ход мысли”

Clayton’s face drained completely of colour. He looked around at the hall, watching all the confused dignitaries.

“Is that man speaking Russian?” Bones heard an admiral ask to someone a few rows back.

“The translator wasn’t set up for him; he’s a born Standard speaker.” Was whispered back.

“Then what the hell does he think he’s pulling!?”

Hikaru and Jim’s faces finally broke into fits of laughter.  Bones couldn’t help but grin widely, stifling his laughter. Pavel suddenly stood up and showed the most confidence Bones had ever seen in the young man. His shoulders were back and his jaw was set; the boy’s mouth held a small smirk.

“I believe ve vould all appreciate it, Professor,” Pavel started with sheer determination. “if you spoke in Standard for the duration of this seminar. It baffles me as to vhy you vould use such an obsolete and unspoken language for this meeting.”

At that point, Bones broke into absolute hysterics. Pavel had replicated the condescending tone of Clayton so perfectly and confidently. Bones was surprised that he could be so amused by a boy half his age. Hikaru and Jim followed suit with Bones. They achieved some disapproving looks from the admirals but a few turned heads and smiles from cadets. An admiral finally stood up to put an end to the nonsense.

“Lieutenant Commander Clayton, I believe this seminar should be rescheduled for another time.”

Clayton looked down onto the lectern and seemed to be composing himself. He then forced out an answer.

“Da.”

Pavel, who was still standing, almost doubled over with silent laughing and raised a cocky eyebrow to the professor. Clayton hurried off the stage and out the door.

“If they found out we did this, we’re in such deep shit.” Bones whispered to Jim.  Jim nodded and shrugged.

“Tweaking the universal translator to only translate into Russian is hardly an offence Bones.”

“Yeah, but embarrassing a Starfleet Academy professor in front of admirals and dignitaries sure is!”

Jim shrugged again and leant over to his other side to shake Hikaru’s hand in congratulations of their successful scheme. Bones observed Pavel; he was acting like he achieved a significant milestone in his life and he sure as hell had. Bones leant over Jim and Hikaru to ruffle Pavel’s hair.

“Didn’t know you had it in ya kid. Impressive job!”

Pavel beamed at Bones’ praise. The four men congratulated each other on their success as the rest of the room filed out.

_Friends. This is what I have here._

That was the day Pavel Andreivich Chekov became fearless amongst his adult comrades. Bones would observe how that gathered confidence would allow him to become a hero in the troubled years that were to follow.


	8. Chapter 8

“Dammit.” Bones muttered as he read the score that had just come through to his PADD.

_Basic Weapons Training_

_Score: 45%._

_Report to Professor Chang for instructions._

Bones stuffed the PADD back into his bag and made his way to the Tactical staff room where Professor Chang’s office was.

When Leonard was honest with himself, he was not in the least surprised that he had failed that test. He was useless with a phaser; he had steady hands when it came to a surgical tool, but he could not fire a phaser to save his life. And that was just the problem.

On his way to the staff room, he bumped into Nyota, the only other person he sort of knew who took the Basic Weapons Training class. Jim, Hikaru and Pavel all took Advanced Weapons Training; for Bones and Nyota, that level was not particularly necessary.

“Hey stranger,” Nyota said happily. “Did you just get your marks back for Weapons?”

Bones nodded, not betraying the annoyed mood he was in.

“How did you go? 100% I bet.” Bones teased. Nyota laughed and lightly punched his shoulder.

“I’m not that good, Leonard. But I got 87%, so I’m happy.”

“Well done!” Bones congratulated.

“Thanks.” She replied before making her tone slightly more serious. “So, I see you’re going to go see Chang about re-taking the test.”

Bones’ mouth hung open. He stammered for words.

“Nyota, I didn’t even goddamn tell you anything. How did you-?”

He was cut off by Nyota’s laughter.

“Leonard, I specialise in communications. I can tell a disappointed man when I see one. You were evasive about telling me your mark when I gave you mine. You didn’t look me in the eye when you congratulated me and plus, you’re obviously heading to the professor’s staff room.”

Bones shrugged his shoulders and smirked.

“You’ve got me all figured out, huh?”

Nyota giggled and placed her hand on Bones’ shoulder.

“I would never presume to think that. Do you want me to go with you to Chang’s office?”

Bones gave a disbelieving look to Nyota.

“God, you’re a tease. You think I can’t take myself to an office? I might just have to tell Jim your first name if you keep hassling me like this!” He said mock seriously. “I can take myself there, thank you.”

Bones and Nyota laughed together outside the looming building. Bones appreciated Nyota for much more than her good looks and charm. She was a genuinely nice person. He was disappointed that he hadn’t given her a lot of credit for the first year they kind of knew each other. He had just seemed like one of Jim’s would-be conquests. But he knew now that she was a strong and confident woman in her own right.

“Well, good luck.” Nyota said in parting.

Bones nodded to her and gave a genuine smile.

_Now, into the fire._

* * *

“Ah, Cadet McCoy,” Professor Chang said cheerily as he motioned Leonard to a corner of the empty staff room. “Just the man I was looking for.”

Bones sat down on a cushioned blue chair in front of Chang’s desk. Chang took his respective place and interlaced his fingers, placing them down on the desk. Bones swallowed hard and shifted around in his seat.

“Cadet,” Chang started. “Your marks, as you know, were not satisfactory. Basic Weapons Training is the lowest level of weapons training that you must complete- even in the medical track. You must know how to defend yourself at an elementary level; every officer does.”

Bones nodded but didn’t say anything. He focused his eyes on Chang’s hands.

“I will be blunt,” Chang continued. “Your marks for this class have never been very good; never a fail until now, but still not too good. I’m going to suggest that you get some tutoring before you retake this test. For both the practical and theoretical components.”

Bones looked up to Chang’s eyes.

“Tutoring from whom?” Bones asked.

Chang took a moment to look at his PADD and scrolled through a list of some sort.

“One of our top students from the Advanced class would be a good candidate. Perhaps James Kirk.”

Bones’ eyebrows slid up his forehead.

“Do you know him Cadet?”

“Ah, yes sir.” Bones stammered. “He is my roommate. It’s just not apparent to me that he actually possesses a functional brain sometimes.”

Chang chuckled.

“Well then, if he’s your roommate, you should have no trouble getting in time with him. Your test will be taken again in 2 weeks. Study hard. Dismissed, Cadet.”

* * *

“Bones...” Jim whined. “That’s so boring.”

Bones sighed and took a few more steps towards Jim.

“Please, kid. You’re good at this. Help me out just for a couple of hours. I have to pass the second test!”

Bones later thought that asking Jim for tutoring after he had been “studying” with an unknown female acquaintance was probably not the best time. Jim groaned loudly and sat down on his bed. Bones stood over him, expectantly. Jim took a pillow and threw it at him.

“Fine, fine. But not now, let me sleep.”

Bones smiled slightly and took his leave out of the bedroom.

* * *

“Bones, you’re holding it wrong.”

Jim took the phaser out of Bones’ hand and showed him the correct grip.

“You’re holding it to far back; you won’t have very good aim.” Jim instructed. Bones huffed and snatched back the phaser, adjusting the positioning as he was told.

They were in the phaser firing range on the outskirts of the academy grounds. There were holo-projectors set up to provide basic targets, still and moving. Jim tapped something into the small console and a basic black shape of a human was projected.  It was set at approximately 10 metres away.

“Now, look, it’s still. Just aim carefully and fire. Try aiming for the chest.”

Bones nodded and raised his arm up, carefully examining his aim. He pressed the button and an orange stream of energy shot out of the phaser. It scraped the edge of the target’s shoulder.

“Shit.” Bones muttered, lowering his arm. A devilish grin slipped onto Jim’s face.

“I have the perfect idea.”

Jim leant over the console again and tapped in a new and seemingly complicated sequence. The black target shimmered and turned into a moving target of none other than James T. Kirk. Bones let out a snort.

“Now, this is more like it.” He said approvingly. Jim raised his eyebrows being slightly surprised that his friend would attain such joy from the prospect of shooting him.

The ‘Kirk’ started moving and dodging around in a random fashion. Bones lifted his arm once more and started firing. He missed a few, but ended up landing a couple of hits.

He fired a shot at ‘Kirk’s’ arm.

“That’s for constantly leaving the bathroom a mess.”

He fired another shot.

“That’s for making out with my ex wife.”

His shots were becoming more and more accurate as he took out his vengeance on the holographic Jim.

“It’s good to know that you forgive and forget.” Jim said dryly. Bones looked over his shoulder to Jim.

“Don’t worry, kid,” Bones mockingly reassured. “I’m a doctor, which fortunately for you means I can ‘do no harm’. Your flesh and blood self is safe.”

Jim laughed nervously as his friend continued to take out his grievances.

* * *

“Jim!” Bones exclaimed as he walked into the apartment. Jim was standing in the kitchen making sandwiches. Bones strode over to him as Jim took a bite of one of the sandwiches.

“I passed the second test! And I didn’t even have to imagine it was you!”

Jim grinned sweetly and opened up his mouth, sticking his tongue out to reveal a disgusting half chewed sandwich in his mouth in retaliation to Bones’ comment. Bones recoiled.

“You’re a grot, you know that?” Bones said as he sat down on the couch to remove his shoes.

“I made one fo’ you tchoo Boes.” Jim said with his mouth still full of food.

_Sweet mother of god._


	9. Chapter 9

It was a warm April day at the academy. There was excitement in the air as Bones walked across the courtyard and out into the main square of the Academy. It was the Academy’s Annual Cultural Exchange day.

Bones, Christine and her new boyfriend Connor were wondering around looking at the various displays that had been set up around the place. The Bolian food stand had seemed very enticing to Bones, but Christine and Connor were keen on the Roylan Carnival games and had dragged Bones along.

As a short Roylan woman explained to Connor and Christine how to play the particular game in broken Standard, Bones stood back, not really wanting any part in the proceedings. Christine turned her head around and gave Bones a quick wink before starting up the very unusual looking game with Connor.

“Hey Chrissy, I’ll win this one for you.” Connor said sickeningly sweetly, giving Christine’s neck a little tickle.

Bones held off a gag.

_Damn, I’m such a third wheel._

By some miracle, Jim showed up at the stand with a green-skinned woman.

“Hey Bones!” Jim said cheerfully as he took the green woman’s hand and pulled her a little closer. “This is Gaila. She’s from Orion. Gaila, Leonard.”

She smiled sweetly at Bones.

“You’re not selling pheromones at the Orion stand are you?” Bones asked jokingly.

Gaila frowned.

“You think the only reason that Jim agreed to accompany me around the grounds is because of Orion pheromones?”

Bones face opened up in surprise. Jim grimaced in embarrassment.

“No, no, young lady. I was just... never mind. I apologise.”

Gaila waved a hand showing her acceptance of the apology and shook her head.

“I get it a lot. Orions don’t exactly have the best reputation. But I’ll have you know that I actually use a pheromone suppressant prescribed by Starfleet Medical. It’s been a help.”

Leonard nodded in understanding. Orion pheromones could cause many a problem, especially on Earth. Jim observed Christine and Connor a few metres away at the Roylan stand. He looked to Bones and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

“Yes, I am third wheeling.” Bones grumbled. “And I’m starving for that Bolian food.”

Jim looked in question to Gaila who gave her approval.

“Well then, let’s go get some food!” Jim declared as he and Gaila began to stride away from the Roylan stand. Leonard stood back to make his excuses to Christine and Connor.

“I’ll see you guys later!” He called to them.

They didn’t look back.

* * *

“Wow!” Gaila exclaimed as she shoved another bit of Bolian food into her mouth. “This stuff is delicious!”

Jim and Bones grunted in agreement as they dug into the food like a pair of pigs. Leonard loved the spicy flavour of the meat (which he couldn’t identify to be honest) and slowed down his pace to truly savour the meal. Jim had no such idea and finished his meal off quickly, promptly asking for more.

It came totally out of the blue when Bones heard a sweetly familiar voice.

“Papa!”

Bones swung around on the chair he was sitting on and laid eyes on his precious daughter. Behind her stood Jocelyn with a small smile on her lips. Bones wasted no time in ditching his chair and gathering Joanna up in his arms.

Joanna giggled as she was swept off the ground by her father and cuddled to him closely. Jim and Gaila watched on at the adorable scene before them. The little girl was a replica of Bones. Jocelyn came in closer and started talking quietly to Bones.  From the corner of his eye, Bones could see Jim shift uncomfortably.

“We were in town and I heard there was a festival on at the Academy. I figured we could spend some time together while we are all in the same place. It will be good for Joanna.”

Jocelyn was as prim and proper as ever. Her hair was swept back and she wore oddly formal clothes for a festival. Her green eyes studied Bones as he responded.

“That’s a great idea, Joss.” He turned back to Jim and Gaila. “Hey guys, this is my daughter Joanna. Say hi, JoJo.”

The girl gave a small wave to the pair.

“Why is she green?” Joanna questioned her father.

“Joanna!” Bones exclaimed. “We don’t-“

Gaila interrupted him with her laughter.

“It’s fine, Leonard. I’m from another planet, sweetheart. It’s called Orion and it’s very far away.”

The girl’s eyes widened slightly as if the concept of ‘planet’ was a foreign idea. Jim laughed at Joanna’s confusion and stood up from his seat to go closer to her.

“Hello, Joanna. I’m Uncle Jim. I’ve met your mom before but never had the honour of meeting you!”

“Oh, so you’ve stolen the ‘Uncle’ title already have you, Jim?” Bones asked dryly rolling his eyes.

Joanna buried her head into her father’s shoulder with shyness. Jim turned gooey and smiled.

‘She’s so cute!’ he mouthed.

* * *

Jocelyn and Gaila hit it off while talking at the food stand and so Leonard and Jim decided to take Joanna around the Academy. She took a particular interest to the Trill mock up demonstrations on the insertion of symbionts into host bodies.  Jim and Bones grimaced as the video played but Joanna’s eyes gleamed in amazement.

“Papa,” She said with a glint in her eye. “Can I get a sym... symbit too?”

Jim snorted softly. Bones bent down to her level.

“No, sweetie. Only Trills get symbionts. That’s how their bodies are made. Human bodies can’t carry them.”

Joanna sighed and took another mouthful of the Fairy Floss she was holding.

“Hey, Jo!” Jim suddenly said, breaking her out of her seeming misery. “Maybe you can’t have a symbiont. But I know how to make you look just like a Trill.”

Joanna’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

* * *

It was approaching dusk. Jim and Bones walked back to the point they had agreed to meet Jocelyn with Joanna fast asleep in Bones’ arms. The large brown freckles of a Trill which had been face painted on outlined her sleeping face; some of them were smudging into Bones’ clothes.

Jim and Bones plonked themselves down on a nearby bench and waited for Jocelyn. Jim’s comm. beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket and looked down at the screen. He snorted.

“What?” Bones asked.

“It’s a text from Gaila. She says ‘Thanks for taking me around the festival and for introducing me to your friend. We should meet up again some time. Tell Leonard he’s a fool for divorcing Jocelyn- we had a lovely chat while you two were gone.’” Jim read off the screen. He laughed a little more. Bones simply smirked.

Jocelyn appeared from around the corner and met up with the two men. Her usually tight face softened as she saw the peaceful form of Joanna in Bones’ arms. Bones stood up and gently passed her to Jocelyn.

“Looks like you guys had fun.” Jocelyn said quietly, observing the brown marks on Joanna’s face.

“Plenty. And now she’s completely conked out.” Jim commented. Jocelyn gave him a small nod in acknowledgement, still obviously a bit awkward about their previous encounter.

Bones stepped forward and brushed some of the hair out of Joanna’s face. He gave her a light kiss on the forehead.

“See you soon, JoJo.”

A moment passed as Bones stood and admired his little girl; the sun quietly slipped down the sky and the wind gently blew.

“We have a transport to get to, Leonard.” Jocelyn broke Bones out of his moment.

Bones nodded and gave Jocelyn’s shoulder a small pat.

“Be safe.”

“We will. Goodbye Leonard, I’ll be in contact soon. Nice to see you again, Jim.”

Jocelyn walked away with the sleeping child on her shoulder. Bones watched her leave until Jim put a hand on his arm.

“Come on, Bones. Cheer up. Let’s go see if the Pareses Squares comp is still on!”

Bones silently agreed and followed Jim back into the main academy grounds.

“So, can I be Uncle Jim _now_?”


	10. Chapter 10

Leonard walked into the apartment and immediately began stripping off his blue scrubs. It had been a tiresome shift; three cadets and one professor had come in to be treated for traumatic injuries. One of the cadets had been flying a shuttle during a lesson when a reactor in the impulse engine had depolarised and sent the shuttle in a spin down to the ground.

Bones treated the two cadets who were less seriously injured; severe concussions, a broken leg and rib. Things that were reparable. The professor and other cadet were in the intensive care ward; they were both pretty banged up. Bones hoped they would make it.

He proceeded to the bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

Later on, Bones walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair dripping with water.

He padded into the bedroom, leaving footprints on the wooden floor. Jim was sprawled out on the bed reading a textbook. Leonard had not expected him back so early.

“Uh...” Bones started. 

“Don’t worry, buddy.” Jim said hopping off the bed. “I’ll let you get ready.”

“How did...?”

Jim closed the door behind him with a smirk on his face.

* * *

Bones stepped out of the bedroom looking very dapper. He wore a clean, light blue shirt, the top button undone. His pants and shoes were a simple black.

Jim looked over from where he was standing at the replicator. He whistled in an approving way.

“Lisa’s gonna love you.” Jim said, raising his eyebrows slightly.

“It’s Laura. And yes, I hope so.”

Jim walked over to Bones, extended a hand and placed it on his shoulder. He lowered his head slightly and spoke quietly.

“Do you need me out of the apartment? For ... you know? Because I’ll do that.”

Bones huffed and smacked the side of Jim’s head. Jim grinned and then laughed.

“Damn it, Jim. It’s only our third date! I intend to be the perfect southern gentleman!”

He collected up his jacket and wallet and made his way out the door. As he walked down the corridor of their floor, Jim stuck his head out of the door and yelled to Bones.

“If you change your mind, comm. me in advance! And don’t forget to use protection!”

Bones did not justify Jim’s comment by turning around. He simply kept on walking and called back light heartedly.

“Fuck off, Jim!”

Bones heard not only the laughter of Jim as he continued on his way, but what sounded like his two young neighbours crying with absolute hysterics.

* * *

“Oh, it’s so true. I tried to stick the hypo in his neck but he struggled and I ended up sticking it in his jaw line. Isn’t gonna do any good there, is it?”

Bones chuckled at Laura’s story as he took a sip of his wine. Laura smiled and pushed her brown hair off her shoulders. She leant forward slightly pulling herself into the table a bit more.

“I completely understand. My roommate, Jim, has an absolute phobia of them. Got any advice for hypospray- phobia? You being a psychiatrist and all.”

“I work in a civilian clinic, Leonard. I’m not particularly well-versed in how to force a soldier-in-training to toughen up and get his shots.”

Bones grinned in amusement. He observed Laura’s grace and charm. Her eyes were an interesting shade of green and light freckles smattered her face. The red dress she wore accentuated her body nicely. He reminisced on the day he had met her. She had been a fill-in psychiatric consultant at the academy hospital for the day and they made an instant connection. He was attracted to her sharp mind and the unorthodox methods she had suggested which were actually brilliant.

There was a pause in the conversation. But it was a comfortable pause. They both used the lack of speaking as an opportunity to eat the food in front of them.  As Bones shovelled a piece of lamb into his mouth, Laura opened up a new line of conversation.

“Let’s go outside. It’s getting a bit stuffy in here.” Laura suggested.

Bones nodded as he chewed his food and made a signal to the waiter. He received the bill and paid the hefty amount; in retrospect he should have gone a bit lighter on the wine.

They made their way out into the cool night air. Laura took in a large breath and exhaled loudly as she took in the night view. Bones tentatively took her hand in his. She did not pull back and tried to suppress the spreading smile on her face.

They walked over a small bridge nearby and stopped.

“It’s beautiful.” Laura remarked. “The water... look how the moonlight reflects on it with the waves. It’s exquisite.”

“Just like the woman I’m looking at.” Bones said softly, feeling like a sap.

Laura turned to face Bones slowly, the wind tossing her hair slightly. Bones outstretched his hand to push it off her face. He let his hand linger and before he knew what he was doing, he was leaning towards Laura’s face. He kissed her gently.

Laura wrapped a hand around Bones’ neck and kissed him back.

_Shit, this is actually happening._

* * *

About 30 seconds after Leonard walked back into the apartment after his date, Jim got off the couch and offered a fist pump which Bones gladly gave.

“You haven’t looked this pleased with yourself for a while, Bones! And you didn’t even get laid.” Jim teased. “She must be an excellent kisser.”

“How-“

“You have a gorgeous red tinge to your lips. Unless that’s just from the wine.” Jim said, winking.

Bones visibly blushed like an embarrassed school boy. He was inwardly very happy with how the date had gone, but Jim’s perceptive abilities never ceased to annoy him.

“I’m going out.” Jim said pulling on a jacket.

“Jim, it’s 11pm. _And_ you have an exam tomorrow!”

“Night’s still young!” Jim replied. “And plus, I’ll ace that exam. Just wait.”

“Idiot.” Bones muttered as Jim flounced out the door.

Bones took to cleaning his teeth. He pulled all his clothes off and pulled on his sleeping pants. He lay down in bed with the image of a beautiful woman on a moonlit bridge and fell into the blissful oblivion of sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Bones flipped his comm. shut and let out a breath of frustration. He had just been called by Jim to come to one of the classrooms on F Block because he had had “an accident”. How Jim could so easily hurt himself was absolutely beyond Leonard.

He marched through the open expanse between E and F Block and felt the light trickle of rain falling down upon him. He wiped the water off his face and gave his eyes a rub. The tiredness he had been accumulating over the last few hectic months seemed to suddenly crash down on him on this particularly humid May day. It was nearly the end of his second year in the academy; just a few more weeks til the break.

He flung open the door to F Block and sauntered in, looking around for the right classroom. He finally found it and promptly opened the door. He was met with complete blackness.

“Jim, you fucking moron.” He muttered. “Making me-“

“SURPRISE!”

Leonard jumped in shock as the lights suddenly flicked on and a crowd of people jumped up and made the noise. People were jubilantly playing party blowers and throwing streamers in Bones’ direction. Across the ceiling, a banner had been slung.

_‘Happy Birthday!’_

Bones groaned in the realisation that he had forgotten his own birthday but was also perplexed as to how Jim had finally figured out when it was.  Christine and Nyota moved forward and both gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Bones grinned when he saw Laura standing a little way back in the crowd.

Bones’ neighbours, Hikaru and Pavel were smiling and clapping for him. When Bones made eye contact with them, Pavel could not help himself and ran forward for a hug. Bones was slightly taken aback and gave Pavel a small pat on the back before disengaging. Hikaru made his way towards Bones.

“Not you too, Mr. Sulu!” Bones warned. “I only allowed Pavel because he’s a kid!”

Pavel frowned at this but Hikaru laughed and extended a hand. They shook hands firmly.

“Happy birthday, Leonard.”

Bones smiled graciously and nodded his head. He scanned the room for a sign of Jim. Whilst he was looking, he noticed there were some professors in the room and also some people he just downright didn’t know. He finally caught sight of Jim talking to Gaila over near the food table. He pushed through the crowds.

“Bones!” Jim exclaimed. “The man of the hour! Happy birthday pal!”

Jim gave him one of his most genuine smiles and wrapped his arms around his friend firmly. Bones returned the hug to the closest friend he had had in a long while.

 “I won’t crowd you too, Leonard, don’t worry.” Gaila said as Jim and Bones let go of each other. “Happy birthday.”

Laura could be seen making her way across the room to greet Bones. He quickly wiped at his face and ran a hand through his hair, trying to make himself look presentable.

“Laura!” Bones greeted. “Nice of you to come!”

“Of course I would come, Leonard. Happy birthday.”

She wrapped her arms around Bones’ neck and leant in for a kiss. Bones leant down and their lips met. Bones moved his arms to encircle her waist and drew her closer as they continued to kiss.

“Get a room you two.” Jim interrupted.

Bones broke off the kiss with a playful scowl.

“You’re one to talk, Jim.”

Jim and Gaila laughed and made their way off to talk to some of the other guests present. Laura put her mouth to Bones’ ear and whispered so only he could hear.

“You know, I do have a gift for you, Leonard. And it may or may not involve ‘getting a room’, as Jim says.”

Bones’ eyes widened in surprise at her words and she sauntered off, mingling with the other guests. Bones desperately tried to will away the unbecoming thoughts that were coming into his mind.

* * *

Gifts had been exchanged, embarrassing stories told and it was now time for the birthday cake. Bones grimaced at the thought of having to blow out candles. He could not stand the smell of them and the idea of blowing onto a cake that was to be consumed by other people was just plain unhygienic. He put his reservations aside when he saw Jim proudly walking towards him with a cake, a single candle stuck right into the middle of it.

Everyone had formed a circle around Bones for this moment.

“We didn’t use a replicator for this buddy. Turns out Gaila and I make a pretty solid cooking team!” Jim announced.

He carefully took a lighter and lit the candle. Bones tried not to wince at the odour.

“Now! 1,2,3...!”

The room sung the happy birthday song to Bones who stood in the middle of a circle, smirking sheepishly. Jim was the loudest, but probably the most ear piercing singer.

“Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday dear- “

A mixture of “Bones”, “Leonard”, “Leo”, “Dr. McCoy” and “Cadet McCoy” was inserted into that part of the song, making Bones chuckle at the assortment of names he had collected.

“Happy birthday to you!”

Just as Bones had thought it was over, Nyota continued on.

“Hip hip!”

“Hooray!”

* * *

The cake had tasted pretty good; it was Bones’ favourite flavour, vanilla. And it was filled with alcohol. Eventually, the party started to break up with Bones accepting many final happy birthday wishes and goodbyes. Laura left with the promise of calling him that evening.

“Phew,“ Bones sighed as he picked up the last of the streamers with Jim. “That was an affair.”

Jim wiped some sweat off his forehead and chuckled.

“Yeah. But you liked it right?”

Bones would have preferred a quiet night with a few friends. He would have liked to eat a shit-load of cake and then drink himself to sleep. A comfy chair and a beer would have done just fine. But people were actually making an effort for him and he would always show his appreciation for them.

“It was great, Jim. Thank you.”

The lines around Jim’s eyes deepened and his mouth quirked up into a smile. He nodded his acknowledgement.

* * *

Bones noticed a small envelope sat against the door as he walked towards the apartment. Receiving post was very rare; Bones was surprised.

He quickly opened it up and found it was from his parents.

He scanned through the letter, reading their well wishes and updates on the happenings in Georgia. He enjoyed receiving correspondence from his old fashioned parents. His mum wrote the first half of the letter while his father wrote the second. He could always tell when it changed; his father’s handwriting was just as terrible as his.

Almost as a side note, there was a mention of Joanna having stayed with them recently. Enclosed was a piece of paper which was obviously an artwork by Joanna. She had seemingly drawn her last outing with her father. Starfleet Academy was roughly drawn in crayon in the background showing Bones, Jim, Gaila and herself in the foreground, all holding hands. Bones softly laughed at the way she had depicted Gaila’s orange hair completely standing on end and how the size of Jim’s remarkably noticeable eyes had been vastly exaggerated.

Bones noticed Jim had flopped down in their bedroom and was breathing steadily. He took the picture and stuck it to the top of the replicator, the best thing he could use as a surrogate fridge. His comm. chirped. It was a message from Laura.

_7:30PM: My place for dinner and a present ;)_

Bones didn’t spare a moment in getting ready. He didn’t bother informing Jim where he was going, Jim would just know. He did a quick check in the mirror and left the apartment eagerly.

_Goddamn... I’m so desperate._


	12. Chapter 12

It was time for annual leave once more. Leonard had finished off all his classes to a satisfactory degree and was excited for the time off.  He was going to spend some of that time with Jocelyn and Joanna. But for the first part of it, he was spending a week or so in San Francisco with Jim and Hikaru. What they were going to get up to was anyone’s guess.

“Come on you two!” Hikaru called from outside Jim and Bones’ apartment “We promised Pavel we would send him off on his shuttle to Russia. We’re gonna miss it!”

“Bones!” Jim called from the bathroom. “Where’s my toothbrush?”

“My God, Jim! Could you be anymore disorganised?”

“There iz an hour between our transports! You can come back for your things later.” Pavel called in meekly.

Bones joined Hikaru and Pavel in the hallway and they began their journey to the shuttle dock. Jim came tumbling out of the apartment swearing about something.

The walk to the shuttle dock took about 20 minutes. It was a pleasant day; the perfect weather for flying shuttles in. When they finally made it to the shuttle, Pavel’s youth smacked Bones in the face.

_Those civilian clothes are a massive reminder that he’s really only a kid!_

Bones gave Pavel’s hair a playful ruffle, enjoying messing up his baby curls.

“Safe journey, Pavel.” Hikaru said, giving his friend a brief one-armed hug.

“Bring us back some of your mother’s awesome Russian cooking huh?” Jim suggested.

“I vill see what I can do.” Pavel replied. He stepped onto the shuttle’s stairs and turned around to face his friends again. “See you all soon. Don’t be too crazy in San Francisco!”

The men smiled at each other smugly. Pavel rolled his eyes and laughed slightly. He stepped up into the shuttle, the door closing behind him.

“He’s got a good head on his shoulders.” Bones observed.

Hikaru and Jim nodded in firm agreement.

“Now,” Hikaru declared. “I believe we have a trip to pack for?”

* * *

The men loaded onto the bus to San Francisco excitedly. As they settled into their seats, Bones noticed Jim scrolling through his PADD. He quickly snatched it off Jim.

“I thought we said no Academy stuff for this trip.” Bones scolded.

He looked down to the screen Jim had been looking at.

“Advanced Weapons Training: 97%, Computer Systems: 91%, Vulcan Language: 86%...” Bones continued to read the PADD “Holy shit, Jim. How do you get marks like this?!”

Jim shrugged and started to pull on his seat belt. Bones let out a sigh.

 “I can’t imagine what your marks would look like if you weren’t out with a woman every other night.” Bones muttered.

“What did you say?” Jim hissed.

Hikaru looked around nervously from his seat.

“Nothing, Jim. Don’t worry.”

* * *

That evening, it was most definitely time to hit the clubs. Bones couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone partying; nightclubs weren’t really his style, he preferred quiet bars. But Hikaru and Jim were young and free and Bones couldn’t help but be pulled along for the ride. He decided he would be the responsible adult and not get too drunk for Jim and Hikaru’s sake.

Hikaru pushed open the doors to the club and Bones was hit with the full force of the booming music. The dance floor was already wild with people swaying their bodies around haphazardly. The room was drenched in purple light and the smell of alcohol and sweat.

The men stepped inside, Bones the least eagerly. They pushed through the writhing bodies to order their first drinks for the night. Bones ordered simple bourbon while Hikaru and Jim got some foreign drinks that he couldn’t even say.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bones saw Jim down his drink in one long chug.

“Take it easy, Jim.” Bones reprimanded. “It ain’t a competition.”

Jim slowly turned to Bones and glared at him.

“I do what I want, Leonard.” Jim seethed. Without another word, he pulled Hikaru away from the counter and entered the mass of bodies dancing to the obnoxious music.

_Shit. Something is really up._

Bones could not recall the last time he was referred to by his given name by Jim. It was absolutely astounding to Bones how hostile Jim had sounded. He ordered another drink and tried to think about something else.

* * *

“What’s a fine man like you sitting all alone for huh?”

Bones shuffled in his seat to face the person addressing him. To Bones’ surprise, it was a young man dressed very impressively who had addressed him.

_Here we go..._

“Um, I’m just here with some friends. I’m not really into the whole dancing thing though.” Bones explained.

“So they’re just leaving you here all alone? That’s not very nice of them.”

The man had moved closer. A bit too close for Bones’ liking.

“Andrew.” The man said.

“Leonard.”

“Nice to meet you, Leonard. Can I buy you a drink?” Andrew offered in rich, seductive tones.

_Oh no you don’t._

“Look, pal.” Bones explained. “I think I know where you’re going with this and I can tell you in advance that I am definitely not interested.”

Andrew shrugged off the comment as if it carried no weight to him.

“Girlfriend?”

“Recently broken up. She decided our ‘lifestyles were too incompatible despite our personal similarities.’ She was probably a bit too good for me in the first place.”

“Tough.” Andrew said glumly.

“And I also don’t sleep with men. Not really my thing.”

Andrew snorted with laughter. Bones wasn’t against any sexual orientation; he respected the unique nature of every life he encountered. But he also knew himself pretty well.

“Fair enough, Leonard. Enjoy the rest of your night. It was nice to meet you.”

* * *

Beyond the point of Bones’ little chat with Andrew, Bones could easily classify their first nightly outing as one of the worst nights out of his life.

Hikaru had joined Bones in sitting down after a long period of dancing at about 12am. He was fairly drunk and rambled incoherently to Bones about a new flower he was trying to grow. Bones didn’t really listen but occasionally nodded in agreement.

“Jim is completely wasted.” Hikaru mentioned as Jim came into their line of vision.

He was dancing in very close proximity to an attractive blonde woman. They started to kiss quite sloppily, Jim running his hands over any part of the woman he could find. The writhing bodies around them didn’t seem to care. The making out intensified.

Bones turned to face Hikaru who was also watching the scene. His face was crinkled up in disgust but he made no comment.

“He’s completely out of his mind. I’ve never seen him this drunk!” Bones exclaimed. “I’m putting an end to this. We need to go.”

Hikaru simply put his head down in his arms, looking like he was about to fall asleep. Bones took that as agreement.

He pushed his way through the crowd to find Jim. He stumbled over people several times, but eventually he got to Jim who was still in the woman’s company.

“Jim!” He almost shouted. “We need to go!”

Jim frowned at him and looked back to the woman.

“You go. I’ll meet up later.” Jim slurred.

“Oh no you won’t. You’re not doing something you’re going to regret in the morning.”

And with that, Bones pulled Jim by the arm away from the woman and the dance floor.

“What the fuck are you doing? You can’t just control me like that!” Jim yelled.

“You’re piss drunk Jim! We should go back to the hotel.”

“I was going to! _With that_ _woman_.”

Bones shook his head and continued to pull Jim along until they were outside of the club altogether. It was significantly quieter outside but the air was as sticky as it was inside. Before Bones could comprehend what was happening, Jim had punched him square in the face.

Bones recoiled and held a hand up to his face. He felt blood dripping from his nose.

“You think you can just tell me what to do huh?” Jim taunted. He threw another punch for Bones’ face, which he dodged.

“You think you’re my _big brother_ , just looking out for me?”Jim launched forwards towards Bones, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him down until he was lying on his back on the pavement. Bones struggled against Jim but he was overpowered.

“I was just trying to help you, Jim!” Bones barked. “Fucking hell!”

Jim moved in closer to Bones’ face as he crouched over his prone body. Bones noticed the snarl on Jim’s lips and how his breath wreaked of alcohol.

“You’re not even in control of your own life! You can’t even be a good dad for Joanna! ”

Something inside Bones snapped. His vision was clouded with red and he roared as he landed a firm punch to Jim’s cheek. He tried to escape from his position but Jim recovered quickly. Before they knew it, they were in a struggle for dominance, landing punches on each other. Bones finally managed to get into a standing position.

“You’re _not_ my brother!” Jim roared, raising his fist with clear intentions.

“STOP!”

Panting, the two men turned to face Hikaru standing a couple of metres away. He looked as white as a sheet. Bones took the opportunity to remove himself from the situation and stormed past both of them.

* * *

Bones woke up in his hotel room with a mild headache and the tangy taste of blood in his mouth. He moved to his en suite and took to rinsing out his mouth with some water. He brushed his teeth and examined his nose, looking for signs of permanent damage. Luckily, it wasn’t anything a dermal regenerator couldn’t fix. He found his med bag which he always took with him and gave himself a hypospray for the headache and his sore nose.

_Oh god, what the hell happened last night?_

Jim had been kind of pissed with him all night for reasons unknown. In their ridiculous fist fight, Bones remembered Jim seeming to be angry because he was emulating his brother. This made no sense to Bones. He checked his comm. He had 3 messages from Hikaru.

12:30AM: ‘Are you ok?’

1:03AM: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll sort Jim out.’

1:09AM: ‘If you need to chat, I’m free.’

Sighing, Bones typed back a quick message:

8:06AM: ‘I’m fine. Need to clear my head a bit. Meet up for lunch maybe.’

A faint tap was heard at the door.

“Come.” Bones ordered wearily. The door slid open to reveal Jim still in the same clothes he was wearing last night. He was holding a dish of some sort.

“Can I come in?” Jim asked.

Bones was silent but nodded his assent, too tired to argue again. Jim made his way in quietly and set down the dish on the table.

“I brought you waffles.” Jim indicated. “I know you like them so I got some for you.”

Bones wasn’t particularly interested in pleasantries with Jim at this stage. He stood his ground simply staring at Jim, not showing any interest in the waffles. Jim nodded his head as if he knew this would happen.

“Bones-“

“Don’t, Jim.”

“I need to explain.”

“You smashed me up outside a nightclub because you were pissed. You insulted my ability as a parent even though you know I’ve been sensitive about that. I don’t care what you have to say, I’m going to be pissed at you for a long time over that.”

Jim sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. He took a few steps towards Bones but Bones backed away. After a beat, Jim began to speak.

“I have a brother called Sam.” Jim said quietly.

“So what?” Bones spat.

“He was real good to me as a kid. He made sure I was alright if Frank was getting on my tail. But one day, he couldn’t take it anymore. He ran away and I never saw him again. No contact. Nothing.”

Bones crossed his arms and sat on the edge of his bed.

“What does this have to do with anything?”

“Yesterday, he tried to contact me. He’s in trouble with the law or something and he wants me to help him out. He expects that we can just pick up where we left off, the bastard.”

Bones looked down at his knees and started to tap them in a repetitive pattern.

“That doesn’t explain why you took out your anger on me.”

“Because you’re just like he used to be when we were kids. Always looking out for me, telling me when I’m doing something stupid.” Jim hesitated a moment. “I figured you were so much like him that eventually you’d walk out on me too. Nobody can deal with me for extended periods of time. Sam making contact was a slap in the face. You are a painful reminder of what I used to have. I’m so sorry about all the things I said... I didn’t mean a word of it.”

“So you attacked me for something I haven’t done yet?”

“Yet?”

“Oh for God’s sake, Jim. I don’t know why your brother did what he did! And right now, I’m pretty damn pissed at you! But I’m not just going to walk out of your life because I’m supposedly going to get sick of looking out for you!”

 “I never really thought about it, but you’ve been acting as my surrogate brother all along, Bones. Filling in the gap that Sam left.”

Bones was mildly surprised.

“You’re a sap, Jim.”

“I’m sorry. For everything. I shouldn’t have taken my pent up anger out on you when it was Sam who- ”

“I get it, Jim.”

“You are an awesome father to Joanna. I see the way you get so excited when you get messages from her. You being a poor parent couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m so incredibly sorry for what I said.”

Jim’s mouth finally closed shut and he was silent. Bones moved over to the table and took a look at the waffles. He sat down in preparation to eat his favourite meal. Jim joined him.

“Let’s just eat these now.” Bones suggested. “We can talk about your brother too if you need to. I am a doctor you know. Speaking of doctoring, I should really give you a hypo for-”

“No! Please not a hypo!” Jim said teasingly as Bones shoved one into his neck anyway. “Damn it, Bones.”

Bones smirked and sat back down at the table. He dug into the waffles sitting before him hungrily. Nothing was forgotten, nothing was yet forgiven. Although the pain would linger for a while yet, Bones knew Jim was sincere in his apology.

“Jim?”

“Yeah?”

“They’re stone cold.”

 


	13. Chapter 13

“Pavel! It’s good to see you again!”

Pavel was struggling with exorbitant amounts of baggage and dropped some of it in surprise of his greeting. Bones briskly walked across the courtyard near A block and helped him.

“Thank you, Leonard.”

“Jeez, Pav. How much food did you bring back?”

Pavel laughed as he picked up the remaining objects off the ground.

“It isn’t all food.” He explained. “Since I can’t go back to Russia for another year, I was giwen all my Christmas presents and birthday presents in adwance. Plus my mama went a bit owerboard with her food.”

“Well, Jim will be happy about that. You know how he loved it last year.”

“Yes I told her that. Perhaps that is vhat triggered her to make more!”

* * *

It was a week before classes resumed at the academy. Bones had decided to read up on his classes and be a little extra prepared for the next semester. He would be starting his third year; an important year.

He held a PADD in his hand and lay on the couch. His psychology course for the next semester seemed to be surprisingly interesting. Part of the course focused on the effects of long term space travel; a subject in which Bones was keenly invested.

He continued his reading into the evening until he heard a beep at the door.

“Come.”

The door slid open to reveal a bright eyed Pavel.

“Leonard, ve are going to eat some of my mother’s food if you are interested.”

Bones realised the time and the fact that he hadn’t eaten since lunch. His stomach strongly agreed with Pavel’s suggestion.

“Yeah sure. Thanks.”

Leonard set aside the PADD and followed Pavel into his and Hikaru’s apartment. It was identical to Bones and Jim’s in every way. The food was spread over the bench of their kitchenette. As Bones suspected, Jim was already there, eagerly awaiting the food.

“Mm, smells good.” Leonard commented as the smell invaded his senses. “What is it?”

“Borshch.” Pavel supplied. “It is wery tasty.”

Hikaru moved out of the kitchenette with a large white bowl of the borshch. He had four small bowls and some accompanying cutlery. He scooped with bright red food into the bowls in equal portions.

Jim took his bowl eagerly and shovelled it into his mouth, leaning back in satisfaction. Bones tried the food and found it quite pleasant; the spices were unusual but worked really well with the other ingredients. Bones tried to identify the main ingredients as he ate the food before the most obvious one hit him slam in the face- beetroot.

One of many foods that Jim happened to be allergic too. He looked to his friend about to tell him to stop eating but it was too late. Jim was already coughing. Hikaru and Pavel didn’t notice anything and continued to eat.

“Shit.”

Bones ran out of Hikaru and Pavel’s apartment into his own apartment to find his med bag. He always put it in the same spot in his room. When he reached his room it wasn’t there.

“Leonard!” He heard Hikaru call through the walls. “Jim’s not breathing properly! We need you in here!”

Bones frantically searched the apartment for his bag, but to no avail. He must have left it somewhere.

_Damn it._

He plunged his hand into his pockets and flipped open his communicator.

“Leonard!” Pavel yelled. Jim’s coughing could be heard faintly through the walls.

“Cadet McCoy to Academy Hospital.”

“Nurse Bailey here.”

“Cadet James Kirk has gone into anaphylactic shock and is currently unable to breathe. I request emergency beaming of him and myself from Dorm A119 to the ER.”

“Standby.”

Bones raced back into Hikaru and Pavel’s apartment. Jim was going purple. Bones held onto Jim’s arm, trying to calm him down.

Nurse Bailey could be heard over the comm. once more.

“Transporting now.”

* * *

“You’re an idiot, Jim.”

Jim and Bones were sitting in the ER waiting to fill in some paperwork after Jim had just been pumped full of adrenaline. Jim’s body had calmed down and was breathing normally once more.

“You should have asked Pavel what was in the food before you ate it! It was bright red; that should have clued you in a bit.”

Jim sighed.

“You didn’t recognise it as beetroot at first either you know.”

“Yeah well, I wasn’t actively looking for it.”

A nurse approached them with a PADD to fill in. They had to update Jim’s medical file to include severe allergies. Bones knew Jim wouldn’t know what to do with it, so he filled it in for him.

“It would have been so much easier if I hadn’t lost my damn med bag. I could have just hypo-ed your ass!”

Jim shifted uncomfortably, rearranging his hands on his lap.

“Your med bag is under my bed.”

“What?”

“Your medical bag. It’s in the bedroom, under my bed.”

“What the fuck, Jim? Why did you put it there?!”

“I was going to pull an elaborate prank on you but I needed one of your hypos. A little payback, you know? I just hadn’t gotten around to it, so I hid it.” Jim tried to explain.

Bones groaned and put his face in his hands.

“Don’t do that again, okay? You gave us a bit of a scare. Also, those hypos are academy property.”

“I’ll just have to find another way to prank you...” Jim replied slyly.

“Keep dreaming, Jim.”

Bones’ comm. chirped.

“McCoy.”

“Hey, it’s Hikaru. Pavel and I are wondering how Jim is?”

“Fine, guys.” Jim said into Bones’ comm.

“He’s had an adrenaline shot and his airways are no longer constricted. We’re just in the ER doing some forms alright?” Bones explained.

“I’m so sorry.” Pavel said.

“Nothing to be sorry for Pav.” Jim replied. “You couldn’t have known.”

“We’ll see you soon. McCoy out.”

Bones flipped closed the comm. and handed the completed PADD to the nurse at reception. He started to walk towards the hospital exit and motioned for Jim to follow him.

“You know Pavel will never give you any of his food again right?”

“Damn.”


	14. Chapter 14

“Bones! I can’t believe we’re doing this!”

The shuttle was ascending higher and higher above the earth’s atmosphere. Excited murmurs could be heard by all the third year cadets present in the shuttle. Bones’ stomach was not quite fragile as his last shuttle ride, more than likely due to the lack of alcohol, but he was still quite nervous about his first zero gravity experience in actual space. He didn’t respond to Jim’s statement and looked down into his lap.

“Oh come on, Leonard.” Gaila encouraged. “Just imagine you’re in a swimming pool.”

“Yeah, a nice big black swimming pool where you have nearly no control over your movements. Great.”

Gaila huffed and crossed her arms.

“Just ignore him, Gaila.” Uhura said quietly.

“Yeah, don’t worry about him.” Jim piped in. “He just thinks space is disease and danger wrapped in silence and... something else.”

“Darkness.”

“Well, I gotta hand it to you, Leonard. With that kind of attitude, you made an excellent career choice.” Gaila teased.

Bones scowled but didn’t choose to explain himself as he had to Jim all those years ago in their very first shuttle ride together. Leonard berated himself for allowing Jim to make him volunteer to go up for the first zero grav experience. Nyota and Gaila were traitors and helped Jim in his coaxing. Eventually Bones had relented, deciding that he would have to do it eventually, so he may as well do it with friends.

‘Cadets.’ A voice over the speaker said. ‘Prepare for space walk. Shuttle depressurisation in 5 minutes.’

* * *

Bones was outfitted in the most unflattering space suit; the ones they reserved for cadets. Uhura and Gaila giggled as they looked over each other.

“Hmm...” Gaila speculated. “I bet a certain, logical _someone_ would love to see you in this, Ny-“

Nyota cut her off with an awkward jerk of her head in Jim’s direction.

“You still haven’t told him your first name!?”

Nyota shook her head and clicked the last part of the helmet onto her suit. Jim apparently didn’t hear and continued to put on his own suit. Bones took in the scene with amusement.

‘Depressurisation in 30 seconds.’

Air started to be sucked out of the shuttle with a loud whooshing noise.

When the entire shuttle’s complement was ready in their suits and had the internal oxygen going, their feet started to lift off the floor as the artificial gravity was completely removed.

‘This time is for you to get used to the sensation of floating. Move around a bit for now; the shuttle doors will open in 4 minutes. When that occurs, you are to exit the shuttle _one_ at a time and connect yourself to the safe guards so you don’t accidently fly away from the shuttle. You must remain floating in space for a minimum of 15 minutes.’

“Hey, hey Bones.” Jim said through the suit’s comm. system. “You know what’s awesome about these suits? It means that if you throw up, it won’t be on me. It’ll be on your own face!”

Bones didn’t say anything back in return. He simply raised his middle finger in Jim’s direction and scowled caustically. Jim must have added Nyota into the conversation as Bones’ heard Jim addressing her.

“So, Uhura. Now that I know your name starts with an ‘N’, I have names to narrow down from!”

“You heard that?”

“Yep.”

“Damn.”

“Don’t worry, Miss Uhura.” Bones chimed in. “Your secret is safe with me!”

Jim shot Bones a look.

“ _You_ know? Why haven’t you told me?”

“Doctor/ patient confidentiality.”

“You’re not her doctor!”

“Maybe so. But I ran a dermal regenerator over a bruise of hers once. So I _have been_ a doctor to her.”

“That’s a shitty excuse. And I think you just broke doctor/patient confidentiality by telling me what you treated her for...”

Uhura could be heard laughing through the comm.

“You two are terrible.”

The conversation lulled and they all tried to acclimatise to the weightless feeling. Bones found that he didn’t feel particularly sick which was a great surprise to him. Jim was typically showing off and doing flips in front of Gaila, Uhura and some other female cadets.

Four minutes was quickly up and it was out into the black.

* * *

Bones was the last one out of the shuttle. He carefully floated out and quickly connected himself to the safety cord. It was a couple of metres long, allowing for relatively free movement and preventing cadets from spiralling out of control. The other cadets were already moving around freely away from the shuttle. Bones clung to the shuttle for a few moments and observed. He had to admit to himself, it was fairly breathtaking to observe Earth from a distant; to be flying above it. He followed this thought and allowed himself to simply float away from the shuttle.

The feeling made Bones initially very queasy. He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes momentarily, trying to steady his emotions.

_My own personal world is so small in comparison to all this vastness._

A new determination surged through Bones. He may still have thought space was highly dangerous, but he wouldn’t try to fight it anymore. He would let it change him, take him places. Bones knew it was highly unlikely he would ever be required to be outside a ship; he wasn’t an engineer. But he could still appreciate this moment; appreciate space carrying him in its arms.

“BONES!”

Bones was startled as he was broken out of his thoughts by Jim’s voice over the comm.

“What, Jim?”

“Oh, thank God. I thought you’d passed out. You weren’t responding to me.”

“Sorry, I was just thinking.”

Jim managed to float over to where Bones was, trying not to tangle his cord with the other cadet’s.

“It’s incredible isn’t it.” Jim stated, motioning towards the planet before them. Bones simply nodded in response.

“Soon enough, we’ll be whizzing around in fancy starships. We won’t have a lot of time to simply observe planets through anything except a view screen.” Leonard said.

“A shame really. But the adventure will be awesome, Bones.”

Bones had never really considered himself the adventurous type. But he really could see the amazing opportunities he could have whilst in Starfleet even if he was just a doctor. Serving on a starship would really toughen up his skills which could possibly make him a more desired doctor on Earth.

“I suppose so, Jim.”

Gaila suddenly joined in on their conversation.

“Hey, Jim! Imagine what it’d be like to have sex in space!”

“What the fuck, Gaila?” Bones exclaimed.

Jim cracked up laughing and gave Bones’ shoulder a light punch as the slowly floated around above the Earth. Gaila gave Jim a wink and floated away back to Uhura who was disentangling herself from another cadet.

“What was that about Jim?”

“Oh, we hook up sometimes. Nothing serious.”

Bones’ jaw dropped.

“When were you gonna tell me, huh?”

“When it became important...”

_Being in space with this lunatic around... God help me._


	15. Chapter 15

Leonard had already done 7 hours of his shift in the ER and he was completely over it. He desperately needed some rest.

“Ma’am, your son is on life support but we have deemed him to be brain dead. There is absolutely nothing we can do further for him.”

A young man had come into the hospital for being severely injured in a hovercar accident. It had been high speed and due to driver’s error. The man’s head was smashed in very badly and his spine was severely mangled. Immediate treatment may have saved him, but it was too late. Bones and the team of doctors and nurses worked on him tirelessly, only to come to the conclusion he could not be revived.

“There has to be something, Doctor! What, with modern technology being so advanced and all?” The woman exclaimed.

“When he got to the hospital, ma’am, he was already dead. The only way we can keep him alive is with the machines. In my opinion, and the other doctor’s too, he will never regain consciousness. It is your decision whether you will keep him on life support or not.” Bones explained calmly.

“He _will_ regain consciousness and I will see to it that you do everything in your power to make that happen.”

“Ma’am, that is completely unreason-“

“I don’t care what’s reasonable or not! All I want is for my boy to be alive!” The woman started to choke up whilst speaking.

“I have a daughter. I know that I’d stop at nothing to keep her safe. But in this case, you must face the reality of the situation.”

The woman did not heed Bones’ words and walked off back to another man who was presumably her husband. The man glared at Bones from a distance.

* * *

The shift did not get very much better after that. He was yelled at by a patient who was given the wrong food tray even though Bones had no control over the catering management. He experienced the awkwardness of having to work with Laura who he hadn’t seen since they broke up; she was oddly stiff and uninviting around him. He was also reprimanded by a senior doctor for using cordrazine instead of hyperzine on a patient even though they had essentially the same effect. On the whole, it was a terrible day.

 As he signed out of his shift at 3pm, he was blazing with anger.

_Goddamn morons telling me how to do my job._

Bones also remembered as he walked back to the apartment that he had a shit-ton of homework to do. Taking shifts at the Academy Hospital was great for the income, but difficult when it came to keeping up with homework. He stopped at a food stand and purchased a chicken sandwich, suppressing a groan at the thought of the hours of reading he’d soon have to do. In that moment, he wished for Jim’s mind which could absorb information like a sponge. He barely ever saw the kid do homework.

As Bones walked down the corridor towards the apartment, he heard very loud, booming music. He entered the code for the apartment and walked in, only to be almost knocked down by a random guy dancing haphazardly. There were about 20 people in the apartment doing the same kind of thing. Something inside Bones snapped and he began to see red.

He determinedly strode towards the booming speakers and switched them off forcefully.

“Get the _fuck_ out of this apartment. Now!”

The crowd of people, nearly all of which Bones had never seen, let out a collective groan and made their way out of the apartment leaving a trail of mess.  The guy who had almost crashed into Bones heaved the speakers out with him. Jim finally emerged out of the kitchenette.

“Bones!?  What was that for? We were having a great time!”

“Jim, you can’t just have parties whenever you feel like it and not tell me! Especially with this many people. And what the hell, it’s only 4pm. Who starts parties at this kind of time?”

“Calm down, would ya? I didn’t know you would be so against this!”

“You never think of _anyone_ but yourself. You didn’t think I’d be tired after an 8 hour shift at the hospital and would like to have a bit of bloody peace and quiet? Do you know what it’s like to be responsible?!”

“Bones-“

“Don’t ‘Bones’ me, Jim!” He almost yelled, clenching his fists together.

Jim didn’t say anything back to his friend. He simply sat on the back of the couch and folded his arms together, seemingly allowing Bones an open forum. Bones felt a flush of shame surge through his body.

“All there is for me at the moment is working, studying, trying to keep my child happy and cleaning up this pig-sty apartment. It keeps going on and on... There’s just...” Bones trailed off and firmly clasped his hand over his forehead. “I can’t keep going like this.”

Jim nonchalantly moved off the couch and walked around to where Bones had left his med-bag.

“You got any sedatives in here? Haven’t had good sleep in a while.”

Bones felt like screaming at Jim in that moment, but he couldn’t take anymore fighting. He plopped down onto the couch and lay back, trying to calm himself down. His blood felt like it was boiling. Against his medical judgment, he decided to let Jim do what he wanted.

“There’s some Melorazine in there. Take 20ccs.”

Bones heard Jim ruffling around and loading the Melorazine. He was quite frankly surprised at Jim’s voluntary use of a hypo, but he couldn’t make himself care about it too much.

He finally understood Jim’s motive when he felt the pinch of a hypo on his neck and he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Bones woke up with a start at about 2am. He was still on the couch but had a pillow under his head and a white blanket draped over him. He remembered the events of the day before and groaned. He knew he shouldn’t have gone off at Jim. He didn’t deserve it. He noticed a little slip of paper on the coffee table.

_Bones,_

_I’m sorry for knocking you out. Well, I’m not really but I feel bad it got to that point.  
You’re over-taxing yourself, buddy. I have never seen you explode like you did yesterday and I think your stress levels are way too high. I know I’m not a doctor and you probably think you’re fine. But know, I think you need to let off some steam. You’re my best friend; I don’t want to see you being so stressed and unhappy. _

_Jim_

Bones set down the paper and snuggled back under the blanket. It was early on a Saturday morning and Bones would be damned if he didn’t get his sleep-in.  He decided to talk to Jim later on and sort things out.

He started to wonder how concentrated the sedative Jim used on him was when his eyelids started to droop once more and he fell into a dreamless sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

“You’re serious, Mr. Sulu?”

“Sure, Leonard. It’s fun, good exercise and gives your mind something to focus on.”

Leonard looked to Jim warily.

“You suggested this, didn’t you.”

It wasn’t a question. Jim shrugged his shoulders absently.

“Come on, Bones. It’ll give you something new to think about.”

Bones knew Jim would try something like this. Set up something as a form of stress relief for him. He didn’t like accepting help for something he should be able to handle completely by himself, but he couldn’t help but feel grateful. Bones couldn’t count the number of times he had to fix Jim up or bear the brunt of his emotions; this was Jim repaying him whether Bones liked it or not.

“I don’t know why either of you think I’d be any good at _fencing_. I can barely aim a phaser.”

“That’s why I’m gonna teach you, Leonard. It should be good fun!”

* * *

Hikaru and Leonard were in the academy gym wearing what Bones thought was the most ridiculous white garb.

“No, that’s the Seconde parry. The Prime parry needs the blade to go inwards, not outwards.”

Bones blushed in embarrassment. He wasn’t doing very well; he felt like a little kid pretending to be a pirate. He observed how Hikaru held the foil with such confidence and grace.

“I’m not getting this, Hikaru.”

“Watch.” Hikaru started to go through the motions of the parries. “This is Prime. This is Seconde.”

Bones tried to replicate Hikaru’s movements. He wasn’t used to anything like this and so he flailed around slightly.

“That was much better, Leonard!” Hikaru commended.

Leonard nodded his head in acknowledgement, feeling a little better about himself. They went through the motions again until Bones understood the first two movements adequately.

“Now,” Hikaru instructed. “I’m going to only do defensive positions and you’re gonna use what you just learnt on me, okay?”

Bones nodded and found himself surprisingly eager. He took on the correct stance and determinedly launched his attacks at Hikaru. Hikaru defended himself easily but made no aggressive move. He allowed Bones to keep pushing him back until he was at the very end of the mat.

When Hikaru stepped off the mat, Bones stopped his attack. He was, however, suddenly surprised when Hikaru launched his foil towards him. Leonard raised his foil quickly and they clanged together. He made a clumsy attempt at a defence but Hikaru was really thrashing him. Bones started to smile and laugh slightly as he tripped over his own feet and fell back onto the mat.

Bones could hear Hikaru laughing as they both pulled off their masks and Hikaru helped him to his feet.

“Where did that come from!?” Bones exclaimed.

“Just putting you on the spot. Seeing what you could come up with...”

“Fair enough, Mr. Sulu. Thank you for this. It’s been a good distraction.”

“No problem man.  We can do this anytime you’d like. Maybe I can teach you some more next week?”

Bones wiped at some sweat at his forehead.

“That’d be good. Thanks.”

* * *

“So,” Bones said as he ate his salad at the local cafe. “Who taught you to fence like that?”

“My mother mostly,” Hikaru replied, wiping at his mouth. “I mean, I got professional lessons, but my mother was always teaching me odd tricks and tips. She had done it when she was younger. My sister was into it too and we often versed each other but she quit when she was a teenager.”

“That’s quite the family affair.”

“Indeed.” Hikaru answered with food in his mouth. He then swallowed and asked: “So, did you have any siblings growing up?”

“No, I was an only child. My mother wanted more kids but for some reason, they couldn’t. My parents were plain and simple folk so we lived in a kind of semi rural area in Georgia and grew our own food.”

“You didn’t have a replicator?” Hikaru asked incredulously.

“Not until I was 19 years old. By that stage I was already in medical school so it didn’t even make that much of a difference.”

“Oh god,” Hikaru mused. “We definitely would have starved without a replicator. My mother and father both were horrible cooks. And you can’t exactly grow your own food in a San Francisco apartment.”

Bones chuckled and took a sip of his drink.

“I think my parents made me a little bit too sheltered to modern technology. I didn’t use a transporter until I was 13. My mother thought it would be a special treat to have a holiday in California and so instead of a shuttle or a car, we took a transporter. It was way more expensive but my mother wanted me to have the experience. My father hated the things but he put up with it.”

“But you hate them now. So what gives?” Hikaru inquired.

“The transporter malfunctioned mid sequence and we were held in the transporter beam for 2 whole minutes.”

“What!? Holy shit that must have felt awful.”

“It did. I have never felt more dizzy and nauseated then I did after the incident. My vision was absolutely fucked for the next day.”

“Can’t blame you for hating them then. You seemed fairly calm about transporting with Jim that time to the hospital though.”

Bones shrugged his shoulders.

“That was an emergency. I wasn’t exactly gonna let Jim asphyxiate.”

“Touché.”

There was a lull in conversation and the men finished off the meals before them before heading out of the cafe.

* * *

“You look knackered.” Jim observed from where he lay in bed.

Bones pulled off his shoes and shirt and slid into his bed, facing Jim.

“It was fun though. Really took my mind off things.” Bones muttered, trying to make himself comfortable.

“You’re welcome.”

Bones rolled his eyes.


	17. Chapter 17

Leonard’s comm. beeped on the coffee table early on a Friday morning.

“McCoy.”

“Hey, Len. Do you want to come out to the Martus Bar later tonight?”

Jim, who was sitting on the couch, shot Bones a look. He raised his eyebrows and waggled them around suggestively. History was repeating itself. Bones struggled for words. He finally made up a reply in his head when Christine added in:

“Just as friends, you know? We could catch up or something?”

Jim pulled up two fingers to his head and pulled the trigger, pretending to lie dead on the couch. Bones inwardly groaned. History certainly _was_ repeating itself. He had gotten over Christine a long time ago but since she recently broke up with her boyfriend, he wasn’t adverse to the possibility of some development.

Bones made a quick decision.

“Yep, that would be good. My last class finishes at 5 so I’ll be free any time after that.”

“Thanks, Lenny.”

Jim cracked an eye open from where he lay on the couch, still pretending to be dead.

“Lenny?” He mouthed.

“See you later.” Bones said, snapping the comm. shut.

“You are possibly the unluckiest man in love, Bones.” Jim teased.

“You’re telling me.”

* * *

Bones and Christine had enjoyed a nice meal together and Christine had even gotten Bones to loosen up and have a go dancing with her to the soft music that was playing. He was embarrassed the entire time but he stuck through it.

Bones realised that although Christine was a lovely woman and was very beautiful, he wasn’t particularly attracted to her anymore. He was pleased that they truly could be friends without Bones feeling any of the residual resentment from his rejection.

“Fencing?” Christine said amusedly. “Didn’t see you as a man who liked playing with swords.”

Bones had no idea what to make of that response to his story. He felt a little silly confiding in her but he knew she never meant any harm. Her nursing training gave her a gentle disposition which Bones was very comfortable with.

“Yeah, well, it gives me something a little different to do.”

Christine nodded as she took a sip of her wine. Bones took the opportunity to down some of the beer in front of him.

“Oh my god, is that Jim?” Christine pointed towards the bar across the other side of the establishment.

Bones turned around to look. It was indeed Jim. He was talking animatedly and the man he was sitting with was laughing. It was odd not seeing women swarming around Jim.

“That’s him alright.”

Bones didn’t have a problem with Jim being there and so he considered it no further. He took another swig of his beer.

“I think Jim’s hitting on that guy...” Christine observed.

Bones almost choked on his drink. Christine didn’t know what she was saying. Jim was most definitely a ladies’ man and that only. Bones turned around once more and peered at them more keenly. It was with a sudden shock that he realised the man Jim was talking to was also the same man who had hit on Bones on their leave. Andrew.

_Jim mustn’t know what he’s doing._

“I’m sending him a message.” Bones announced.

“Why?”

“That guy he’s talking to is the same man who hit on me when we were on leave.”

“So?”

“So, I know that Jim isn’t into that.” Bones tried to explain.

“You don’t know for sure. Have you ever asked him?”

“Well, no. But I’ve always just assumed...”

Christine giggled and swatted his arm.

“This is Jim Kirk we’re talking about you know, Leonard.”

Bones nodded vaguely as he typed his message to Jim.

_L.MCCOY_

_9:43PM: Chris and I are incidentally in the same bar as you. Are you comfortable in the situation you’re currently in with that guy?_

It was a few minutes before Bones got his reply.

_J.KIRK_

_9:48PM: Know what I’m doing. Thx for the concern._

Christine raised an eyebrow as she read the message Bones showed to her. Bones rubbed his forehead in confusion. He had never wanted to know anything about Jim’s sex life ever. But this certainly came as a surprise. Christine broke his contemplation.

“Looks like our friend isn’t always quite the ladies’ man we thought he was.”

* * *

The evening with Christine had been lovely and Bones was brave enough to give her a friendly kiss on the cheek when he dropped her off at her dorm room. She had blushed faintly and then said her goodbyes and thanks.

It was now the morning and Bones realised happily as he woke up that he had no classes or shifts for that day. He decided that he should really catch up on some work since he couldn’t think of anything entertaining to do. He collected his PADDs and made his way to the academy library.

He spread out onto a free table and got stuck into some xenosociology work. Their current subject was Klingon sociology. Not much was known about the Klingons but it was important they learnt what was known in case they ever encountered one. They were currently fairly hostile towards members of the Federation and Starfleet didn’t want to mar diplomatic relations any more than had already been done.

Whilst studying the way Klingons viewed the concept of honour, Bones noticed Jim enter the library looking fairly bedraggled. Jim saw Bones and made his way towards his table.

“You look... tired.” Bones put forward.

Jim nodded and took a seat opposite Bones. Bones felt a very awkward tension between them that he’d never felt before. He aimed to cut the ice.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Jim.”

“I know I don’t. But can we take a walk?”

* * *

“That was the same Andrew who hit on you!?”

Bones smirked as they walked around the bay just outside the academy. Across the water, a cool breeze blew and the water shimmered with sunlight.

“Sure was. That’s why I sent you that message.”

“Oh god. How come you turned him down? He was a nice guy.”

Bones gave Jim a scowl.

“Because I never have and never intend to have sex with a man. I’m not gay, plain and simple.”

“Neither am I.”

“Bisexual, right?”

Jim sighed and stopped walking. He folded his arms across his chest and looked to the ground. Bones similarly stopped and looked to Jim inquisitively, wondering what had prompted Jim to stop.

“Why does there have to be a label for everything? I am who I am. I’m James T. Kirk. Not, James T. Kirk, the bisexual.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, Jim. I’m sorry.” Bones paused for a moment. “I’m sorry that you thought you would have to keep this from me.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Bones.” Jim explained. “I’m just not big on the ‘coming out’ thing. Why should I have to explain my behaviour to anyone unnecessarily? Plus from what I’ve heard, your family is fairly conservative.”

“I get it, Jim. And I don’t have bigotry ingrained in me; you don’t have to worry about that. But my stance still remains. I don’t want _any_ information on your sex life okay?”

Jim laughed and slapped his friend on the shoulder.

“That’s a deal I can keep.”

Bones started to walk again but then stilled once more and turned to Jim.

“Hold on, what about Gaila? If you’re hooking up with her, why did you sleep with Andrew too?”

Jim raised an eyebrow.

“I told you, it’s casual.”

“You really get around, Jim.”

“Hey!” Jim exclaimed. “It looks like _you_ are breaking the deal now! I thought you didn’t want to know!”

“Shush. Okay from this point on, no talking about your sex life unless you think you’ve caught a life threatening, alien STD. Deal?”

“Deal.”


	18. Chapter 18

Bones and Uhura sat under the shade of the enormous trees surrounding the academy. They both held PADDs in their hands.

“No, no.” Nyota corrected. “It’s gra-leek. Not grar-leek.”

Bones tried to pronounce the Andorian word again. Nyota giggled. Bones huffed in annoyance and looked back down to the PADD, scanning it intently.

“My exam is tomorrow, damn it. And I can’t even get this one word.” Bones grumbled.

“Here,” Nyota handed her PADD over to Bones. “Test me on these protocols.”

Bones set aside his PADD and read over Nyota’s.

“Uhhh... Okay. What is General Order 1?”

“Leonard, that’s too basic. It’s the Prime Directive: don’t interfere with the natural development of alien worlds.”

“Sorry.” Bones mumbled. “Okay, regulation 476.9 states?”

“All away teams must report to the bridge at least once every 24 hours.”

“You got it.”

Nyota grinned.

“Now, let me help you out with this.”

Nyota took his PADD from him and read through the words. She said a few words out loud in demonstration.

“Do you see how I’m actually trying to adapt the Andorian accent? You’re reading these too phonetically. Your southern accent keeps peeking through.”

Leonard tried to replicate what she had just said to him and felt like an absolute fool.

“How can you be so good at languages, Nyota?”

“We all have our talents. But don’t be so down on yourself! From what I hear, you’re coming first in your class in Xenobiology and Advanced Psychology!”

“Yeah, well...” Bones mumbled sheepishly.

 For a few minutes, they regarded their own work silently. Bones made a few annotations on his PADD with Nyota’s suggestions on pronunciation. They were both broken out of their concentration with a start when Jim flopped down on the grass next to them.

“Do I need ask?” Bones said to Jim, not looking up from his PADD.

“Nope.”

“Honestly, Jim.” Nyota admonished. “Did you really think that taking the Kobayashi Maru test twice would increase your chances? It’s unwinnable.  
  
“It couldn’t have hurt...”

“Well it will hurt when you realised you haven’t studied enough for your exams tomorrow.” Bones huffed.

“I’m going to study at the library with Chekov for a couple hours later on. I should be fine.”

Nyota and Bones rolled their eyes simultaneously at Jim.

“Well, if you’re gonna be here, don’t distract us from studying. Here, test me.” Bones instructed passing over a PADD.

* * *

Bones’ leg shook nervously as he sat before the examination interface. The pressure was building up in his mind as the question on the screen flashed before him. He had to verbally respond to the question asking him about his family life in Andorian. He would be scored on his correct use of syntax and the level of detail he included.

The answer to the question swirled around in his head in Standard and refused to be translated.

_I have one daughter who lives with my ex-wife. I have two parents who live in Georgia and I have no siblings._

He desperately tried to grab the information Nyota had given him out of his mind. He only found a blur of family titles and verbs swirling around in a hurricane of thoughts. He could feel his heart pound dangerously in his chest. His breaths became quick as he watched the countdown clock tick down. 40 seconds remaining for the question.

_Lunge. Parry. Block._

_The sight of Hikaru’s intricate footwork._

30 seconds.

_The exertion of it. It looked so effortless when others were doing it._

_The world narrows down to a white mat._

20 seconds.

_The rest of the world doesn’t matter. He can be free._

_He moves clumsily compared to the finesse of Hikaru. But it doesn’t matter. It isn’t about skill for him._

15 seconds.

_Inhale, exhale. The pressure is gone. He lunges again and thrusts the foil forward as if in slow motion._

_Tension fading, heart slowing, knowledge trickling back into his mind._

10 seconds.

_He’s a doctor, damn it. Not an Andorian. Not a fencer. Yet, he is more than a doctor._

_He_ can _be more._

Leonard delivered his answer in a rushed voice in what he thinks is an acceptable manner. The computer accepted his answer and moved onto the next one.

Bones’ leg stopped shaking. He calmly continued on with the exam.

* * *

“90 percent!” Nyota squealed with glee. “That’s fantastic, Leonard!”

“I have a good teacher.” Bones complimented. He turned to Hikaru who was also gathered with them post-exams. “And Mr. Sulu, I must thank you as well.”

“Me?” Hikaru questioned. “I’ve never studied with you before!”

“No, for the fencing lessons. It’s been a good outlet to channel for stress. I didn’t think it’d help but it really has.”

Jim shot Bones the ‘I told you so’ glare and opened his mouth to say just that.

“Don’t say it, Jim. I know.” Bones interrupted.

“No worries, Leonard.” Hikaru said.

Bones, Jim, Nyota, Hikaru and Pavel had gathered in the academy cafeteria for some post- exam celebrations. They were all enjoying each other’s conversation and eating all the food they hadn’t been able to eat due to nerves.

“You know vhat vould be amazing?” Pavel postulated. “If ve all served on zhe same starship one day!”

Nyota chuckled.

“It would be amazing, Pavel. But it’s highly unlikely.”

“Nah,” Jim interrupted. “Let the kid dream. I’m sure it’s possible, Pav.”

Pavel beamed at Jim. Bones loved the fact that Pavel could be so mature and intelligent but was still able to maintain his childhood innocence by looking up to strong adults such as Jim.

“God help me if I have to serve in space with you lot.” Bones teased.

Bones’ friends knew him well enough by then that they knew he was kidding. The group sniggered at their frequently cranky friend knowing that deep down, he truly appreciated them all.


	19. Chapter 19

_“Say, Bones.” Jim said with a mouthful of food. “Gaila is the lab tech for the Kobayashi Maru test isn’t she?”_

_“Of course she is, idiot. She’s only been doing it for a whole year...”_

_“Just asking.”_

_Bones became very suspicious. He had suspected Jim had ulterior motives for sleeping with Gaila. Perhaps he wanted hints from her about how to break the Kobayashi Maru’s system. It was unlikely though._

_“Surely, you aren’t going for the test again, Jim?”_

_“Why not?”_

_Bones groaned._

_“And I’m gonna help you again aren’t I?”_

_“Yep!” Jim declared gleefully._

As Bones sat in the crowd and watched his friend being called to trial, he very much regretted not seeing through Jim’s plan earlier. From a distance, he could see Gaila glaring at Jim as he took his place at the stand. She had every right to be furious. She had been emotionally manipulated by Jim.

“Cadet Kirk, evidence has been submitted to this council suggesting you violated the ethical code of conduct pursuant to regulation 17.43 of the Starfleet code. Is there anything you care to say before we begin?”

“Yes. I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly.” Jim said somewhat uncomfortably.

Bones looked to his left as a man in black professorial garb stood up from the crowd. He was introduced as Commander Spock. Bones thought he vaguely recognised him from somewhere but couldn’t put his finger on it. Bones feared that Jim would make a fool of himself going up against the Vulcan.

“Cadet Kirk, you somehow managed to install and activate a sub-routine in the programming code, thereby changing the conditions of the test.”

“Your point being?”

The Academy President broke in.

“In academic vernacular, you cheated.”

“Let me ask something I think we all know the answer to. The test itself is a cheat isn’t it?” Jim proposed. “It’s programmed to be unwinnable.”

“Your argument precludes the possibility of a no-win scenario.” Commander Spock replied calmly.

“I don’t believe in no- win scenarios.”

Leonard was not really surprised to see Jim become so defensive of his actions. What he did was technically against the rules, but it was undeniably clever. Bones didn’t doubt that Jim would be a formidable opponent in battle. Bones broke out of his thoughts when the name George Kirk was mentioned. He noticed Jim stiffen up.

“I think you just don’t like the fact I beat your test.” Jim shot back.

“Furthermore you have failed to divine the purpose of the test.”

“Enlighten me again.”

“The purpose is to experience fear. Fear in the face of certain death. To accept that fear and maintain control of oneself and one’s crew. This is a quality expected in every Starfleet captain.”

Bones was startled at the argument they were managing to have. He didn’t by any means expect Jim to simply accept punishment, but he and the Vulcan were bickering as if they had been for years.

A messenger interrupted the proceeding and gave a message to the president.

“We’ve received a distress call from Vulcan. With the primary fleet engaged in the Laurentian system I hereby order all cadets to report to hangar one immediately. Dismissed.”

Leonard was suddenly hit full force with the information that he was going into space, into battle, that day. He expected he had a little more time. But now, he was expected to do what he signed up for- battle in space. He made his way down to Jim’s side who was still standing near the podium.

“Who was that pointy eared bastard?” Jim asked sardonically.

“I don’t know, but I like him!”

* * *

“Jojo, Papa is going into space to help out the Vulcans, okay?” Bones explained calmly to his 8 year old daughter over the video comm. link he had scrambled to set up. “I might not be back for a little while.”

Joanna sat in Jocelyn’s lap. She cringed slightly and tilted her head to the side.

“You’re going to space?”

“Yes, darling.” Bones replied, trying to sound as confident as possible as to not worry his daughter. “I have to go now. I love you very much.”

“Be careful, Leonard.” Jocelyn said.

“Bye, Papa!” Joanna said, blowing Bones a kiss.

He cut the comm. link with a smile on his face. He was pushing himself for time, he needed to get to Hangar one very quickly.

* * *

Leonard walked with a spring in his step when he found out he had been assigned to the USS Enterprise. It was brand new and was one of the best ships built in the fleet. His elation quickly died when he saw Jim talking to a commander with a look of concern on his face.

From a distance, Bones heard the words ‘academic suspension’ and his heart sank. If anybody should be going out on a rescue mission, it was most definitely Jim Kirk. Bones approached Jim when the commander had walked away. He looked at Jim, full of remorse.

“Look, Jim. I gotta go.”

Jim turned around to face him, obviously plastering a fake smile onto his face. He extended his hand for a handshake which Bones accepted tentatively.

“Yeah, be safe.” Jim said in a cheerful manner. Bones knew that Jim was trying to not show his disappointment of not being able to go along. With regret, Bones turned away from Jim and began walking towards the shuttle of the Enterprise. With each step he took, he knew he needed to rectify the situation.  Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and rushed back to Jim’s side. He grabbed his shoulder and began walking with him.

“Come with me.”

* * *

Bones’ plan had worked. He had successfully given Jim the symptoms of the Melvaran mud fleas virus from the vaccine and had gotten him aboard the shuttle to the Enterprise.

“Urgh.”

Jim was hunched over in his seat, shaking slightly. Bones gave him a pat on the back.

“It’ll pass soon.”

They ascended higher and higher into the sky until they were through Earth’s atmosphere and into the blackness of space. Bones found himself completely steady in shuttles now, which was just as well since he was about to start his career in essentially an oversized shuttle.

“Bones,” Jim said shakily. “Do you know what ship Gaila’s on?”

“Hm, not sure. But I think it’s the Farragut maybe. Why?”

“I need to send a message or something to her.” Jim coughed a chesty cough and then continued. “I need to tell her I’m sorry.”

Bones didn’t really know what to say and so he didn’t reply. Instead, he took to scanning Jim with his tricorder, making sure the vaccine wasn’t giving him permanent damage. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed all the starships docked around the Space Station. He spotted the Enterprise and was truly shocked by the size of it despite seeing pictures before.

“Jim, look.”

They both looked out the window with awe as they beheld the enormous and magnificent ship before them.

“I may throw up on you.” Jim said through gritted teeth.

Bones smirked to himself as he realised his academy years had come full circle. It was goodbye to room A118, endless hours in the library and annoying professors and time for the adventure of a lifetime.

Though not joining completely willingly, Leonard Horatio McCoy determined that he would strive to be the best doctor in the fleet; he would make the most of the situation he was in.

_Into disease, danger, darkness and silence I go._


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the end!

Jim smiled as Leonard finished telling his final memory of times at the academy. He lay in his hospital bed at Starfleet Medical, tubes sticking out of his arms. The faint whirring of the medical scanners could be heard throughout the room.

“Those were the good old days, weren’t they Bones?” Jim croaked.

Bones smiled and pat Jim lightly on the hand before checking his vitals with a tricorder. Spock sat in the room on a chair by Jim’s bedside.

“You most certainly had a varied Academy life.” Spock stated. “It has been most interesting listening to these stories. I thank you for allowing me to hear them, Dr. McCoy.”

Bones snorted.

“Well, it’s not like I had much of a choice. You won’t leave Jim’s bedside, damn it. And I needed a way to take Jim’s mind off things while that goddamn blood circles around his body.”

“I never realised I made you go through so much shit, Bones.”

“Hey, save your breath. You shouldn’t be talking more than necessary. And for the record, I wouldn’t have spent my Academy days any other way.”

Jim smiled weakly at Bones. His tiredness became apparent as he eyes began drooping. Spock moved forward and placed a hand on Jim’s forearm.

“Sleep now, Jim.”

“Will _you_ tell me stories like Bones has?”

“Perhaps. For now, rest.”

Jim smiled contentedly and allowed his eyelids to close. The monitor soon showed he was in a light sleeping state. Bones ruffled through a drawer looking for a PADD, his back facing Spock as he said to him:

“You know, Hobgoblin, if you don’t get some rest soon, I’m going to-“

As Bones turned around to look at Spock, he was cut short by the sight of Spock leaning back in his chair, head resting on the wall with his eyes closed. The Vulcan had finally succumbed to sleep after almost a week without it. Bones sighed as he beheld the sight of his two commanding officers in the calmness of sleep.

“Damn it, I’m a doctor. Not a bed-time story teller!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for everyone who has followed this story :) Please let me know what you think, if you are so inclined. xx


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